YouTuber stars and friends Trisha Paytas and Shane Dawson are publicly feuding — dismantling the public relationship that the pair had cultivated over nearly a decade. Together, they've used their combined access and influence to grow as content creators, but it seems like the end might finally be in sight. In a recent string of videos, TikToks, and podcasts, Paytas claims that Dawson failed to side with her in a feud with beauty guru Jeffree Star.
Instead of looking ahead at what the impact these two bumping heads will have, let's wind the clock back and see how this friendship blossomed before it rotted away.
How Trisha Paytas met Shane Dawson
According to Paytas' account, she first met Dawson when she was cast as a stripper in one of his videos in 2011.
—Trisha Paytas (@trishapaytas) October 3, 2014
"I remember going to Shane's house for the shoot (this was years before we even became friends and made our own videos together), but I was like 'WHAT DO YOU DO?' straight up," she told Insider in 2018.
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By the time they were collaborating, Dawson had millions of YouTube subscribers, had multiple singles on the iTunes top 100, and had peaked at the third most subscribed to channel on the platform.
Paytas had her own notoriety — appearing on shows like "Ellen," "Modern Family," and "1000 Ways to Die." Her controversial and troll-ish online persona melded well with Dawson's penchant for edgy humor, making them almost instant friends.
In 2012, she tweeted her thanks to Dawson after booking a role on the show "Dexter," acknowledging that without his initial push and friendship, she might not have thrived.
—Trisha Paytas (@trishapaytas) May 16, 2012
From 2014 to 2019, the pair would appear in each other's vlogs and content, in at least over 100 videos.
Between 2014 and 2019, Paytas and Dawson frequently collaborated.
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Dozens of these collaboration videos have been purged from their channels over the years, with most of Dawson's earlier videos being privated or deleted after his online cancellation in 2020 (though it's unclear if this is when these videos were taken down).
The earliest collaboration still up on one of their main channels is a candy haul from March 2014 on Paytas' blndsundoll4mj account. The sugary mukbang on Paytas' channel currently has over four million views and offers a unique, heartwarming glimpse into their personal relationship.
"Thank you for being my friend, I don't have many and thank you for doing a video with me," Paytas says.
"That meant a lot to me because I don't have many friends either, so right now this moment means so much," Dawson responds teary-eyed.
These cameo appearances in each other's vlogs and videos would continue, often pulling in hundreds of thousands if not millions of views. These uploads happening multiple times a week or month featured the duo going to Cheesecake Factory, getting weird types of candy, or just engaging in their everyday lives. Throughout 2014 and 2015, these uploads were fairly regular — sometimes multiple times a week.
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Paytas and Dawson started to collaborate less by 2016
By 2016, the pair's collaborations had slowed down tremendously. Judging by uploads still online, they only appeared in eight videos together that year. Though the uploads were more sparse, they often had a much larger impact. A 2018 video on Dawson's channel titled "SWITCHING LIVES WITH TRISHA PAYTAS" has over 28 million views and is exactly what the title suggests. Shane is draped in couture and wearing a bright blonde wig, eating McDonald's, and driving an expensive automobile.
December 2019 is the last time Dawson and Paytas appear in a video together on Paytas' channel for her holiday party. Dressed in a Christmas onesie, clutching Dawson in an over-the-shoulder embrace, Paytas exclaims her admiration for the YouTube star that brought her into the limelight.
"I love to him to death he's my best friend," Paytas says. "He's made me survive on YouTube all these years, it's only because of him."
After that, the pairing still hyped each other up on social media.
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After Dawson released his make-up Conspiracy palette collaboration with Jeffree Star in November 2019, Paytas posted multiple videos trying out their products.
When Paytas announced her engagement to artist Moses Hacmon, Dawson posted about the news on his Instagram, writing that his "heart is exploding." Paytas responded on her own story calling Dawson her "best man." When Dawson became engaged to fiance Ryland Adams, Paytas seemed excited, even announcing in an interview with ET that she would be singing a song at their wedding. In a 2020 podcast with Adams and Paytas, the pair discuss wedding details and Adams' dream ceremony.
In 2021, Paytas lit a fuse on her friendship with Dawson over a disagreement with Jeffree Star
That leads us to the drama that started this week, with Paytas and Dawson seemingly ending their friendship.
In January 2021, Star's hairstylist hairbyJay recounted a 2018 trip to Vegas with Star, Dawson, and Paytas, while insulting her skin, weight, and mental health struggles. The attacks sparked Paytas to upload a video, where she called out Star for allegedly bullying her on the trip. She also criticized Dawson for what she said was his "constant promoting" of Star. Her outrage grew when Star appeared on Adams' podcast "The Sip," prompting her to block both Adams and Dawson on social media.
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Paytas then announced on Twitter that she had blocked Dawson and Adams with "no malice behind it."
—Trisha Paytas (@trishapaytas) January 17, 2021
Most recently, Paytas uploaded a video titled "Shane and Ryland are literal SCUM OF THE EARTH" and called the couple "fake" as well as saying they were terrible friends.
