YouTube star Shane Dawson has apologised for “repulsive” comments he made about paedophilia which have resurfaced online.

The American vlogger, who has more than 11 million subscribers, has faced an online backlash after joking about a “justification for paedophilia” and searching “naked baby” on Google in an episode of his Shane And Friends podcast from 2012.

He issued an apology video, which quickly became YouTube’s top trending video with more than three million hits, after an edited version of the segment began circulating online.

“I cannot believe I am having to make this video, I cannot believe this is happening,” he says at the start of the video titled “Regarding the rumours about me today”.

“I’m going to start by saying I’m not a f------g paedophile. I want to go on record saying I’m not a f------g paedophile. Got it? Great.”

“I can’t believe I even have to say that,” he added on Twitter. “It literally feels like I’m in a nightmare.”

The 29-year-old added that all the jokes in the clip had been “taken out of context and has all the punchlines removed”.