Why teens are mad at Cameron Dallas after the Teen Choice Awards
LOS ANGELES -- It wouldn't be a teen awards show without some drama.
At this year's Teen Choice Awards -- which were held on Sunday -- Vine and YouTube star Cameron Dallas found himself in the middle of two controversies.
The 21-year-old, who won the Teen Choice Award for Social Media King, came under fire by fans, who called him out for being hypocritical about the awards show and for "slut shaming" actress Jessica Alba.
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Dallas -- who has 14.5 million subscribers on Instagram, 9.5 million followers on Vine and 8.24 million followers on Twitter -- grew in popularity after starring in AwesomenessTV's Expelled, a Ferris Bueller-esque film for Gen Z viewers.
The digital influencer is currently on a tour called MagCon alongside fellow Vine stars. Netflix recently announced it is developing a new unscripted series about Dallas.
Drama No. 1
Backstage at the TCAs, during a game of "Would You Rather?", Dallas was asked if he'd rather use Justin Timberlake's toothbrush or Alba's.
"I would honestly choose Justin Timberlake just because I don't know where Jessica's been," Dallas said, laughing.
Cue backlash.
On Monday, Dallas called the comment a joke and said the conversation should be about Alba's powerful speech on gun violence.
But that was only one reason Dallas was being criticized.
Drama No. 2
Alba comments aside, Dallas was also mocked on social media for reversing his views on the Teen Choice Awards as a whole.
The Teen Choice Awards continue to be more inclusive of digital influencers and their community of fans, lovingly referred to as "Team Internet."
The show first began honoring web stars in 2010, with the addition of choice web star and choice "twit" (best tweet). In 2012, a social network award was added. Now there are numerous honorees who come from the digital space.
But the increase of digital inclusion can also lead to more internet controversy, hence the dilemma Dallas faced Sunday.
In the last two years, there have been complaints from fans and nominees alike over how the awards are chosen.
In 2014, Dallas, who that year won the choice Vine award but lost in the male Web star category, tweeted and later deleted: "It's funny how they told me I won the Viner award 6 days before the voting ended and made the runners up still tweet to vote for them."
Dallas may have moved on and let go of the angst, but teens never forget a good controversy.
They quickly called out the Vine/YouTube star for celebrating his win this year.
Representatives for Dallas and Alba didn't immediately respond to Mashable's requests for comment.
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
