Dávid Julián Dobrík (; ; born July 23, 1996) is a Slovak Internet personality. He found early success on the video-sharing platform Vine, before starting his vlog on YouTube in 2015. In 2019, he co-founded the photography app Dispo. Dobrik entered the United States as a child, and was later protected under the DACA program, before eventually being granted permanent residency.
Dobrik is known for being the leader of the YouTube ensemble The Vlog Squad, which features prominently in his vlogs and comprises rotating selections of his friend group. As of July 6, 2022, Dobrik's vlog channel had 19 million subscribers and 7.1 billion views. The channel was the fifth-most viewed creator channel on YouTube in 2019, with 2.4 billion views that year. Controversies have arisen around Dobrik's involvement with the Vlog Squad, including allegations of sexual assault, bullying, and injuring former member Jeff Wittek.
Beyond internet entertainment, Dobrik voice-acted in The Angry Birds Movie 2, was one of the judges on the Nickelodeon TV show America's Most Musical Family, and hosted a SpongeBob SquarePants special and the first season of Discovery Channel's reality competition TV show Dodgeball Thunderdome.
Early life
Dobrik was born on July 23, 1996, in Košice, Slovakia. His family moved to Vernon Hills, Illinois, when he was six years old. He attended Vernon Hills High School, where he played tennis. He qualified for the 2014 Boys Tennis State Tournament, where he won third place in the doubles tournaments. After graduating high school, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his Vine career.
Career
2013–2016: Vine and YouTube beginnings
In 2013, Dobrik uploaded his first video onto Vine. He collaborated on Vines with other popular Viners such as Liza Koshy, Gabbie Hanna, Jason Nash, and Zane & Heath. Before starting his own YouTube channel, Dobrik was part of the YouTube group, Second Class. Dobrik launched his self-titled YouTube channel in 2015.
In August 2016, Dobrik created his second channel, David Dobrik Too, where he posts blooper reels, challenge videos, and his more direct sponsorship deals.
2017–2022: YouTube career
Dobrik gained fans in recent years due to his high-energy videos which consists of pranks, inside jokes, cute animals, former Vine and YouTube stars, real celebrities and various comedy bit characters, which he previously posted three days a week and are currently posted two days a week. In December 2018, Dobrik was given a Diamond Play Button by YouTube in recognition of his YouTube channel surpassing 10 million subscribers. Dobrik was also named one of the "10 Social Media Personalities Making the Most Noise" for 2018 by Paper magazine.
In July 2019, Dobrik was featured by W magazine among others for being part of a trend of creating a separate Instagram account dedicated to their photos taken with the use of films or disposable cameras.
In August 2019, Dobrik was featured by Variety magazine in their annual "Power of Young Hollywood" list. In the same month, Dobrik co-hosted the 2019 Teen Choice Awards with Lucy Hale, himself receiving the award for Choice Male Web Star. Dobrik also competed in the first-ever Kids' Choice Sports Championship.
In October 2019, Dobrik was ranked the most popular media personality among teenagers based on a survey by the Piper Jaffray & Co.
In November 2019, People magazine named Dobrik Sexiest Heartthrob of 2019, over runner-ups including Harry Styles and Shawn Mendes. That same month, Dobrik was one of the presenters at the American Music Awards of 2019, and was also a guest judge in the first episode of the ninth season of Chopped Junior.
In December 2019, Dobrik was named in YouTube Rewind 2019 as the fifth-most-viewed creator that year on the platform, with 2.4 billion views. Also that month, a video of Dobrik's on TikTok featuring a large-scale elephant's toothpaste experiment was named the Number 1 Top Viral Video on the platform in 2019, with 17.5 million likes and 180 million views.