Four brothers with a massive YouTube following have apologised for barely speaking to fans who had paid up to NZ$1000 to meet them.
The Dobre Brothers have amassed more than 14 million subscribers for their videos including comedy skits, gymnastics performances and pranks. Cyrus, Darius, Lucas and Marcus have a devoted fanbase of mostly teenage and pre-teen girls, and often go on tour where fans can pay extra to meet the brothers after a live show.
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A video of a recent meet-and-greet has gone viral, but not for a good reason. Footage shows the four men (who are aged between 20 and 25) posing for a photo with a young female fan whose excitement to meet the YouTubers quickly vanishes at the brothers' lack of energy.
The Dobre Brothers barely acknowledge the girl, all remaining seated to pose with her without saying anything to her. She awkwardly thanks them and hurriedly walks away as they continue to look bored.
Video of the moment was posted to Twitter with the caption "PLS TELL ME THIS IS A JOKE", where it's received more than 100,000 likes.
"Ugh this makes me sick, young girls seriously crush SO hard on guys like this and they need to know this shit is NOT real," one person said.
"What a miserable bunch of boys!" a woman said. "Boys, if you’ve got people that look up to you and pay your bills you should be showing the greatest appreciation to your fans."
"Refund please!" another tweeted.
One girl said she'd had a similar experience meeting the brothers at a festival.
"My friends asked for a photo right after me and one of them started to walk away," she claims. "They're stuck up brats. Never will support them."
Meet-and-greets with the Dobres cost up to US$700 (NZ$1110), with cheaper options ranging from US$75 (NZ$120) to US$200 (NZ$320). It's unknown how much the girl in the video paid for her likely disappointing experience.
The video also attracted the wrath of 'stan Twitter' - adolescents who are passionately loyal to their favourite bands and celebrities. Comments such as "Harry Styles would never" and "stan BTS instead" attracted hundreds of likes, with many people posting photos and videos of themselves having more positive encounters with their idols.
Lucas Dobre tweeted an apology in response to the video, saying he and his brothers were exhausted after filming and meeting fans for two days non-stop.
"Our true apologies, we are sincerely sorry," he said.
The Dobre Brothers will perform at Auckland's Aotea Centre in March next year, "a show full of music, dance, LOLs and audience participation" that will also include a meet and greet opportunity.
Newshub.
