James Somerton was accused of plagiarism in December 2023. He re-emerged as a wedding photographer, using stock images as his work.
https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2025/04/07/james-somerton-re-emerges-plagiarizes-again-disappears/
#Photography #Plagiarism #JamesSomerton #YouTube #hbomberguy
December 2024 means it has been a full year since #Hbomberguy released his "Plagiarism and You(Tube)" video essay, with the later half of the video being about the now former and disgraced gay YouTuber #JamesSomerton for being as a serial plagiarist, notably by ripping off other smaller queer creators.
In May 2024, I wrote a blog post about the time James Somerton used one of my video game footage without credit or permission:
https://leilukin.com/blog/posts/2024-05-14-james-somerton-my-video-game-footage/
It's sort of fascinating to me. How can someone get help when their own behaviour is so self-defeating? I want him treated fairly and I want him to have access to support, but I wouldn't pick him as a friend. What does society owe him, what's my responsibility.
He did have quite a good income from his plagiarism-supported career, and I suspect he still has enough money to pay for therapy, but I don't feel sure that's a path he actually would take.
Some indication that Somerton is still alive: his ex-collaborator Nick said "to my knowledge, there's nothing to worry about".
I don't suppose he's in great shape though.
"somerton writing and posting a suicide note is a sign of significant mental distress and being a danger to himself, whether or not he acted on it." - @/bikenesmith_ on Twitter.
So apparently James Somerton, slightly famous for extensive plagiarism as explained in that long vid by Hbomberguy, has put a post on Twitter which looks like a suicide note.
Twitter's been roiling with "it's not Hbomb's fault / yes it is / don't do it James". Nobody knows if he's actually dead or not. Some people posted that he was, then backtracked.
I'm thinking: if he _isn't_ dead, what an even worse level of social awkwardness to come back to. Aieee.
If you hated the #Plagiarism by #JamesSomerton, but are still distracted by Eye Candy, badly written & acted cheap Theatrics, and awful citations & references by other #BreadTubers, you haven’t learned anything from this.
Never actually watched any #JamesSomerton videos before the plagiarism callouts dropped, but now I'm watching this streamed commentary/breakdown of his #Utena one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuIQL8ykqGc
2/3 of the way through, it's mostly a sludge of reading off Wikipedia interspersed with lukewarm takes. Then, around 1:54:25, a line that made me stop cold and rewind to make sure I heard it right:
"...which I feel gives a lot of undue complexity to a work that is otherwise meant to just be straightforward."
UNDUE COMPLEXITY. Utena!
Meant to just be straightforward! UTENA?!
I just
Wh
JFC. Someone from the #hbomberguy Reddit decided to make a subreddit to discuss #JamesSomerton, and as the hate built up, some absolute psycho decided that meant they should try to break into Somerton’s home.
What in the name of fuck is wrong with some people?!
https://www.reddit.com/r/hbomberguy/comments/1aj9j0k/rjamessomertondiscuss_is_no_more/
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