A famous YouTuber has issued a video statement after allegations of pedophilia began circulating about him on Twitter.

Shane Dawson, who has well over 11.7 million subscribers on his main YouTube account, was the subject of social media rumours on Wednesday after quotes from an old episode of the "Shane and Friends" podcast in which he jokes about pedophilia began being re-shared.

The section of the podcast, which you can listen to a the 7:20 mark, features Dawson joking about googling naked babies and his "justification" for pedophilia:

On Wednesday, quotes from the podcast -- which was shared on Soundcloud four years ago -- were posted by various accounts on Twitter.

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Dawson has since slammed the rumours, both on Twitter and in his latest video.

"I cannot believe that I am having to make this video," says Dawson. "I cannot believe that this is happening.

"I am going to start by saying I am not a fucking pedophile. I, Shane Yaw -- my real name -- go on record saying I am not a fucking pedophile.

"It's disgusting that people are saying that I'm a fucking pedophile because of some shitty ass fucking jokes from six years ago on a podcast."

Dawson goes on to apologise for the jokes he made in the past, saying he was playing a character and would go for laughs by trying to shock people.

"I loved the feeling of making somebody shocked and laugh because they couldn't believe what was coming out of my mouth," he continues. "I wasn't confident enough to make smarter jokes."

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In the time since the rumours began, Dawson has received both criticism for his old style of humour and support messages from fans.

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