There's a reason why criminal suspects are suggested to keep their mouths shut before their lawyer arrives. Anything they say can and will be used against them. Well, the same goes for any YouTubers that get themselves caught in the middle of a controversy. If they don't choose their words carefully, they just dig themselves deeper. Now, we are probably aware of the most recent and notable example being Colleen Bollinger's ukulele, but what are some others you can think of?
One good example would have to be Channel Awesome's attempt at damage control after the Not So Awesome documentary came out. Since Doug Walker is living proof that cancel culture is a myth, let's recap. A group of former Channel Awesome contributors banded together to expose Doug Walker and Mike Michaud of mismanaging the site and subjecting them to abuse, harsh filming conditions, wrongful terminations, and ignored sexual misconduct. Now, Doug's stans like to point out that most of these were Mike Michaud's fault, but "He's not an abuser. He's just complacent with one" isn't the defense they think it is. To quote Barret Wallace, "a good man who serves a great evil is not without sin. He must recognize and accept his complicity. He must open his eyes and recognize that his corporate masters are profiting from the planet's pain."
So, in the aftermath of the fiasco, a letter was released in response to this. However, instead of at least pretending to be apologetic and say they made a lapse in judgment, they responded with "I deeply regret you feel that way." Really, they might as well be saying "I'm sorry you think I owe you an apology." Over a year later, Doug decided to bite back against the controversy in his review of The Wall. For those of you who haven't watched that video, don't. It's terrible. One of the songs, which was a parody of "Waiting For The Worms," was essentially Doug calling out his detractors that came from the Not So Awesome document. Oh, but Doug is so humble and can take a joke at his expense! Yeah, just don't mention #ChangeTheChannel around him and he's good with you.
Another example would have to be ProJared. For those of you that forgot, Jared came under controversy in 2019 for allegedly cheating on his wife and getting nudes from his fans, many of which were allegedly underage. His excuse was that they were in a polyamorous relationship, but polyamorous couples still have to consult each other on potential fuck partners. Even if he had proof that he thought his fans weren't underage, it's still creepy to abuse your fame to get nudes from your fans. Of course, because stan culture is a thing, people were quick to believe him. However, he showed how unhumble he is sometime after the controversy died down, and a Tweet about the toughest boss you beat in a video game went viral. Jared's answer was "cancel culture." Yeah, because an innocent person brags about getting his name cleared. Is he also going to write a book about what would happen if he really did do it too?