A lot of people have probably heard of the recent YouTube debacle in which popular British YouTuber Sam Pepper uploaded a three-part sequence of videos which dealt with sexual assault. These videos will not be linked here not only because doing so would help get him views and therefore money, but also because it has since been deleted from YouTube for breaking their Terms of Service regarding sexual conduct.
In the first of three videos, Sam Pepper was seen groping women who were presumably strangers, without prior consent. This video received serious backlash and hit the 250k dislike mark before being pulled from YouTube by members of staff. Despite the fact that it was eventually deleted, so many people had watched the video that it wound up going viral, and Sam was subsequently banned from vidcon as well as starting a large movement to remove Sam from YouTube which has received support from several YouTube sensations.
The second video contained similar content, but with the roles reversed, in which women were groping men rather than vice versa. This is still sexual assault, and as such, it was still pulled from the website and I assume Sam was probably suspended. Nonetheless, even without viewing it in context, you can probably see where Sam was going with this; after receiving so much hate over his decision to upload a scummy video, he decided to backpedal and pass the (horrifyingly un-funny) prank off as a "social experiment".
The third and final video was Sam sitting in front of a camera, with dramatic music playing in the background, reciting a speech regarding sexual assault and how "men are victims too", and all along he had intended for this to raise awareness regarding sexual harassment among both men and women alike. Toss in a personal experience (which was probably untrue), and we have a full fledged pity party in our midst. He probably would have gotten off with it, too, if it weren't for the victims who gained the courage to come out about what he has done.
Several people have come out about what happened between them and Sam Pepper, the majority of which involved sexual violation. I'll post a compilation of those accounts below. I recommend that before browsing these links you watch this video by Laci Green who summarizes the issue quite nicely. Laci was later threatened by Sam.
OhMyAnnie discusses their experiences with Sam Pepper.
An anonymous user discusses their experiences with Sam Pepper.
An anonymous user discusses their experiences with Sam Pepper.
Another anonymous user discusses their experiences with Sam Pepper.
Another anonymous user discusses their experiences with Sam Pepper. [1] [2]
Another anonymous user discusses their experiences with Sam Pepper. [1] [2]
This is not the first time that a YouTuber was accused of exploiting their popularity as a method to abuse fans, and it probably won't be the last; a masterpost of this can be seen here. Please stay safe when going to meet ups and take precautionary measures to avoid being taken advantage of in these situations! ♥
