Well, the statement is out and it has been confirmed by Wilbur himself that he was the one that Shelby was talking about.
The statement that he put out did align with what I was thinking that he would say. It has been no secret that he has been a dark mental state for the past year and a half and that he has been working on himself so that this was mentioned came to no surprise.
And while I am glad that he did admit that it was him and that he did not stay silent or deny everything, he is not taking full accountability for how he hurt a person so badly. By not daring to say that his actions were abusive, he is downplaying the situation which leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The statement was not an apology, it was a PR statement to state his side of view of things which he should be able to share and which I do think was the best move for him. I believe that the only apology he needs to make is to the people that he hurt and manipulated so that the statement was not an apology to his fans etc is not the issue. It is not uncommon that a person with issues and bad mental health does not realise that their actions are abusive in the moment, so that he alludes to that also does not surprise me. I can even believe it to an extent and I am glad that he is working on this with therapy. But, it is way too early to say that he has made great strides as a person.
Especially, the last sentence of his statement of wanting to be held to high standards that he wished to attain and maintain, left me feeling physically sick. The language is so manipulative and he is missing the complete point of why he needs to address this whole situation in the first place.
The biggest issue with the statement and him in general is the lack of accountability and downplaying the situation. The reactions of fellow creators such as Aimsey and Ranboo clearly demonstrate this. Reframing the biting issues, leaving out other harmful actions and only taking taking account for his "slobbish, disrespectful and selfish" state during the time he was dating Shubble.
I think if he had taken full responsibility for his actions and promised to keep working on himself and addressing these issues in the (long) time that he is away, he could have made a comeback eventually with a smaller audience. But coming back from this will be difficult and rightfully so.
At the end of the day, I believe that he is a highly disturbed person with lots of issues. This is not a surprise, as I think many fans of him knew about his mental struggles and how this translated to his music and story telling. It is why a lot of us found comfort in him in the first place. I just never imagined that he would turn that emotional and mental instability to others.
You are not responsible for what you feel but you are responsible for what you do with those emotions. It is never an excuse to harm others. Something that Wilbur clearly has not learned nor has he learned to take full accountability. Please note that this situation is therefore also not an excuse to doxx or send death threats to him or any other creator involved.
Like I have mentioned when the situation came out, I will no longer support him and I will step away from him. Whether you want to do the same is up to you. If you want to stop watching his content, stop supporting/listening to Lovejoy and to what extend or stop watching his close friends and cc's, that is your choice to make. Nobody can accept Wilbur's apology except the people harmed by his actions, and that will certainly not happen any time soon.
If you are going through a hard time, please talk with others about it and my dm's are open.
Send your love to Shelby and support victims. Please take care of yourself.
