An influencer has sparked intense backlash after pretending to live like serial killerJeffrey Dahmer for “24 hours”.
DuB Bridge, who has accumulated more than 1.3 million subscribers on the DuB Family YouTube account, where he frequently posts prank and challenge videos, uploaded the controversial clip on 6 October.
In the video, which has been viewed more than 188,000 views, it began with DuB watching Netflix’s controversial Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, a true crime series that depicts Dahmer’s gruesome murders. The canabilistic serial killer murdered 17 Black, Asian, and Latino men from 1978 to 1991.
However, according to DuB’s initial reaction to the show, he “honestly believed that [Dahmer] was just ‘misconstrued’”.“Like he grew up wrong, and that was the only way he could tame it,” the YouTuber told the man filming the video as he explained the premise of the show at the start of the video.
The clip, which is titled: “Jeffrey Dahmer for 24 hours…” then saw DuB transform into the infamous serial killer, with the YouTuber dressed in a blonde wig and glasses. After his transformation, the influencer offered the cameraman a drink, a tactic used by the serial killer, who spiked the beverages, on his victims.
The video then saw DuB speak directly to the camera while dressed in the costume, with the YouTuber telling viewers: “What’s good YouTube, it’s your boy DuB and I am back for another video, and if you don’t know who I am, I am Jeffrey Dahmer. Jeffrey Dahmer was a terrible person and where he’s right now is where he deserves to be.”
However, DuB then noted that he just watched the “amazing documentary,” before explaining that that’s how he came up with the idea to see “what people would do if I came at them as Jeffrey Dahmer”.
The skit then saw the YouTuber, dressed in the outfit inspired by the serial killer, visit a liquor store, where he asked the cashier: “Do you know who Jeffrey Dahmer is?” He then proceeded to visit a friend’s apartment, where he kept up the act, with DuB asking if he could take photos of his friend, similar to the behaviour Dahmer displayed towards his victims.
DuB’s friend participated in the skit, with the video showing the man, who was reportedly playing Dahmer’s 14-year-old victim, Konerak Sinthasomphone, according to Newsweek, pretending to be unconscious on the bed at one point, before he accused the influencer of drugging him.
The 12-minute YouTube video concluded with DuB’s six-year-old son Woo Wop calling the influencer out for his behaviour.
“You [are] almost 50 years old. You got a kid that is in first grade. Why are you acting like this? … And you look stupid,” the six year old told his father.
The video also sparked outrage from viewers, with many criticising DuB over the skit, which was deemed both disrespectful and insensitive.
“I’m never one to be sensitive about ANYTHING on the internet. However, some things you should just have compassion about and should not do. This is one of them. People were victims at the end of the day. This could have stayed in the vault,” one person commented.
Another said: “People died by the hands of this man and you turn it into a joke?”
“Imagine someone making a skit about the person who killed your brother. Can’t be joking about the pain that the families of these victims felt,” someone else wrote.
In response to the criticism, DuB replied in the comments, where he wrote: “Stop taking everything so serious, and laugh more.”
However, in a follow-up video shared on 8 October and titled: “So I got cancelled,” DuB addressed the backlash to his video, with the YouTuber claiming in the hour-long video that he was just trying to be funny.
Dahmer was arrested on 22 July 1991 and indicted on 15 murder charges. He was found guilty and sentenced to 15 life terms, a total of 957 years in prison. He died on 28 November 1994 after he was attacked by a fellow inmate.
While the show has become Netflix’s second most-viewed series ever, many, including relatives of Dahmer’s victims, have condemned the dramatised retelling.
The Independent has contacted DuB for comment.
