alyaza [they/she]A YouTuber was accused of plagiarism. His apology highlighted a larger issue among creators.
MJBruneThis whole thing is wild.
I honestly can’t fully feel good about HBomberGuy’s video. While it was important to point out a prominent plagiarist. While HBomberGuy always starts off his videos as “don’t attack this person.” Realistically his fans always seem to show up and bash on the person he’s exposing or attacking. He’s kind of being a bully. I mean, a bully with a decent reason, but still a bully.
Content Warning: Mental Health, Suicide.My biggest concern is that James Somerton doesn’t seem like the most stable person, admitting he just got out of the hospital. Taking that in good faith it could mean that this event drove him to do something to put himself in there. I question if Hbomber’s next video might cause someone to take their own life. Someone who can’t handle the influx of hate from a community much bigger than theirs. James Somerton only had 330 subs, a 4th of what Hbomerguy has. You are then dealing with an influx of people that is potentially as big as your community all angry at you. Many people have taken their own lives or attempted to because of these exact reasons. Maybe I don’t see it but it doesn’t feel like Hbomberguy is considering this as a factor in his videos.
What would you have expected as an alternative? What other way could the plagiarism have been addressed? It had been brought up in multiple other instances over the last year and James brushed it off saying it was not true and led harassment campaigns against those that questioned if he had stolen others work.
Frankly, I do not believe James’ woe is me bit is anything other than an act and emotional manipulation of his audience. He still has thousands of subscribers on Patreon and it is to his personal benefit to keep them as in the dark as possible or to believe that he is still deserving of their money and attention. If he does have mental health issues stemming from this, then he should have just deleted all his accounts, accepted responsibility from his actions, and moved on to something else and work on his mental health.
James also did not only have 300 subscribers. He had almost 3,500 on Patreon. He was raking in tens of thousands of dollars per month using stolen work.
If he does have mental health issues stemming from this, then he should have just deleted all his accounts, accepted responsibility from his actions, and moved on to something else and work on his mental health.
I mean, I think he’s done that. He’s deactivated his Patreon, deleted his YouTube channel, and said that he’ll comment more when his mental health is better. Maybe I am a soft-hearted fool but it sounds like he’s done just that.
That said it’s important to remember everyone is human and makes mistakes.
As for what I’d do differently. I don’t know, I don’t think anything else could have been done differently I supposed but it just feels not great.
I mean, I think he’s done that. He’s deactivated his Patreon, deleted his YouTube channel, and said that he’ll comment more when his mental health is better. Maybe I am a soft-hearted fool but it sounds like he’s done just that.
that’s being fairly charitable to him, i think–he reactivated his patreon when he dropped the now deleted “i’m sorry” video and based on that and the content of his video it seems like he was planning a monetized comeback (to ostensibly pay into Hbomb’s financial damage fund) before overwhelming backlash made him scurry back into the shadows and close it again
Yeah, that gave me a good bit to think about. I came to the conclusion that what James should do is on a video by video basis, ask the creators he stole from if they want his video back up with all the proceeds going to them and with credit given in whatever way they would like. Essentially giving his fan base a path back to the original creators.
Okay, sure. Forgiveness is important. But, like, first let’s get the situation remedied. Step 1 isn’t let’s immediately forgive them without saying anything. Step 1 is holy shit look at all this blatant plagiarism going on, let’s make sure people know this is happening so that the original creators can avoid having their work stolen.
Like, yeah, this guy and all the other plagiarists are people. So are all the people they’re stealing from. Getting the word out and not dwelling on what they did forever aren’t mutually exclusive.
You can set a boundary and forgive someone without letting go of that boundary.
CalOtsuI guess I'm just cynical because the way he "apologized" and came back was called like play for play for how to do a fake YouTube apology/comeback. I just find it so hard to feel sympathy for the man or believe anything he says with what he's done (not accused cause there were screenshots in that video) outside of just being a huge YouTube grifter.
Frankly, I do not believe James’ woe is me bit is anything other than an act and emotional manipulation of his audience
I believe it is entirely plausible that Somerton is suicidal over this. If he can’t muster up the willpower to write any of his own words in his videos, I doubt he can muster up any emotional resilience. Shame, guilt, and despair are appropriate emotions for Somerton to feel right now. These are emotions that teach us to do better, when they’re properly controlled. I doubt Somerton can control his emotions. And uncontrolled shame and despair can lead to suicidal impulses. So I am willing to believe Somerton has attempted suicide because of H’s video.
But I agree with you that that’s not anyone else’s problem, nobody owes Somerton anything, and we shouldn’t let our opinions of him be swayed by what he’s saying. I don’t think it matters that it’s true. Shame is the only way Somerton can possibly feel over what he’s done. It’s his own fault. And it is right that he be faced with appropriate consequences for his actions. We’re looking at a choice between Somerton in the hospital and Somerton stealing money from queer writers who have actual integrity. I’d rather a Somerton in the hospital.