Liza Koshy apologises for mocking Asian accents in video with ex David Dobrik

30 June 2020, 16:31

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By Sophie Thompson

Liza Koshy has spoken out about resurfaced racist videos on TikTok with ex-boyfriend David Dobrik, where the pair appear to mock Asian people.

Liza Koshy has issued an apology after old videos with her ex-boyfriend David Dobrik resurfaced in which they appear to mock Asian people.

The videos from 2016 were posted on TikTok over the weekend, and show the pair eating different Asian candy (which they labelled as Japanese) while seemingly pretending to talk in accents, laughing and joking that it's "like the sounds I hear when they talk".

Attracting the attention of the Vlog Squad viewers, it was captioned “Why is no one talking about this? It’s a clear example of the normalized racism against Asians.” The video exposing the footage has since received over 1.4 million views and 73,000 likes, much to the disappointment of their fans.

Liza and David broke up in 2018, and have 17.8 million subscribers each on their YouTube channels. The apology follows the backlash against many of their peers, including Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson, who have recently been called out for their own problematic pasts.

Liza and David broke up back in 2018 but have remained part of each others lives. Picture: Liza Koshy via YouTube/David Dobrik via YouTube

In a post to Twitter and Instagram, Liza apologised for her mistakes, writing: “While we focus on systemic anti-black racism in our country, I’ve been hesitant to center my voice. My work has been within but I now recognize and take responsibility for the times I was not the ally I am becoming today."

"Being anti-racist requires a personal reckoning, and I can’t in good faith continue to use my platform for progress without taking accountability myself," she continued.

"What I once thought of as 'innocent jokes' were actually tainted with implicit bias, and what might have been intended as ‘playful’ was actually to some, incredibly painful. And for that, I am so sorry."

She then went on to talk about her own experience growing up as a "little brown girl", but acknowledged that being a woman of colour doesn't exempt her from acknowledging her own "perpetuated racist ideas."

"It takes a combination of individual and collective reckoning with our past to heal and move forward together," she ended. "Consider this my resignation from ignorance, and my declaration as an ally in action. I will give grace, make space, and break these damn systems in place like my life depends on it."

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A post shared by Liza Koshy (@lizakoshy) on Jun 28, 2020 at 7:07pm PDT

David is yet to respond to the criticism, but we're glad that people with a platform are finally taking a stand and owning up to their previous wrongdoings.