Big Brother UK Star and YouTube blogger Sam Pepper is feeling the fury of the internet once more, after uploading yet another prank video that has been deemed inappropriate and offensive.
Pepper has suffered something similar before, when his video of him hitting on random women and touching them inappropriately and without consent backfired, and he was faced with mass amounts of criticism and a petition to have his YouTubw account closed on the basis that legally his acts were sexual harassment. Pepper later backtracked, uploading a similar video of a woman behaving the same way to a man, and then claiming it was all a social experiment and he had attained consent from all the women beforehand, though many of the women revoked this, and few people believed it was anything other than a poor attempt at a cover up.
This time, though, there are even fewer people offering up their own support, after Pepper uploaded a video titled “Killing best friend prank” that shows a masked figure kidnap two boys, tie one up in a chair and force him to watch the execution of his best friend. The guy is crying hysterically from the beginning, screaming and begging for help before his “friends” reveal it was all a prank. “Let’s see how [he] reacts when he sees his best friend of 5 years killed in front of him” Sam teased. Both boys involved have clarified there was no trauma or hard feelings, and have even spoke out in defense of Pepper, but the video has prompted widespread anger.
The video amassed over 125,000 dislikes on YouTube within twenty-four hours, and both Twitter and the comments were immediately full of people calling him out on his behaviour. Many said that though the video would have been inappropriate in the best of times, in light of the recent Paris Attacks, such a video is unwelcome and unwanted now more than ever.
The prank has even caused Sam Pepper to fall out with some of his fellow YouTubers and one time friends.
Jack and Finn Harries, both of whom have hung out with Pepper many times in the past and featured in some of his prank videos before (though not recently) have condemned the video, as well as Pepper’s use of the online video platform. Both of the twins posted links to a Change.org petition calling for YouTube to close his account, a petition that has been signed almost 40,000 times already, but Jack, always eager to use his platform for good, further criticized Pepper in a series of Tweets, detailed below:
This is one of the most disgusting things i've seen on youtube: https://t.co/WIVXkv7cJl @sampepper You need a fucking reality check man
— Jackson Harries (@JackHarries) November 30, 2015
.@sampepper Who the hell do you think you are? Human abuse is not funny, entertaining, clever or interesting. Its just downright fucked up!
— Jackson Harries (@JackHarries) November 30, 2015
.@sampepper Have you read the news lately? Did you see what just happened in Paris? How can you be so fucking insensitive. Get a grip man!
— Jackson Harries (@JackHarries) November 30, 2015
.@sampepper I think I speak for the majority of the internet when I say please leave. You're not wanted in this space.
— Jackson Harries (@JackHarries) November 30, 2015
Pepper’s Video has also attracted criticism from fellow Youtuber Carrie Hope Fletcher and pop-star and member of The Vamps James McVey.
YouTube has commented that the video is not in direct violation of any of there rules and so they won’t be removing it, but with so much controversy and outcry from the YouTube community, they might be persuaded to change their mind.
The video is attached below, but might be triggering for some, and is certainly a hard and uncomfortable watch, so be wary before you watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBvX5dNdMK8
Has Sam Pepper taken it too far this time? Should his Youtube account be deactivated? Leave us a comment below, or on Twitter at @CelebMix.