"I Won't Let You Down" - YouTube Star Sam Pepper Pledges Change as He Asks for Second Chance
A few days ago I wrote about YouTube prankster Sam Pepper's sudden departure from social media, and needless to say I wasn't entirely positive when discussing his channel and recent antics. Now, however, he has provided me with some food for thought.
Following on from the removal of his content, all except for a tweet reading "i give up", Pepper pledged to share "the truth" with his followers and critics. What followed was what I believe to be a genuine, heartfelt apology from a man who has come to realise the negative impact of his actions.
Honesty seems to be the keyword of Pepper's video, as he makes efforts to explain the apparently 'fake' persona he created for himself online. He speaks earnestly about how a desire to be the 'class clown' and stay ahead of the new wave of prank channels providing fresh competition led him to generate this falsified image of himself. He asserts that the infamous videos that created so much controversy were faked, with the consent of the supposed 'victims', in an effort to compete with the increasingly extreme content being created by his rivals.
Pepper does, however, also acknowledge the stupidity of his actions, both in creating the content and dealing with the resulting backlash. Discussing the 'Fake hand ass pinch prank' that started it all, he stated both a failure to think about public perception and inexperience in dealing with these situations as major contributing factors as to why the situation became so bad. After apparently realising that if he felt the need to fake the prank, it probably went too far and shouldn't have been uploaded, he admitted that the desperate hunt for views had clouded his judgement at the time, stating: "All I was thinking was like, 'oh this video will be really like, people will laugh, it's funny'. But I'm not thinking 'oh no they're gonna see me pinching a girl's butt and think "Who's this creep?"'"
This was the point that, according to Pepper, his own inexperience became the problem. Having never been in such a situation before, he says he simply didn't know how to deal with it and, unfortunately, picked the wrong approach by claiming that his video was part of a social experiment, rather than admitting to his mistake.
Then came the accusations of sexual assault, which Pepper obviously denies. He calls the claims "complete bull****", discussing in depth the pain it caused when he had to assure his family, friends and even even his girlfriend that he is not a rapist. This naturally had a massive impact on his viewing figures, meaning any attempts to take his channel back to its more innocent, silly roots proved unsuccessful.
Fearing for his financial security as his channel declined, Pepper approached Sam Golbach and Colby Brock with an idea. This turned into the highly controversial 'Killing best friend prank".
Pepper now admits that although he did know at the time that it was a crazy idea, pretty much guaranteed to create a backlash, his quest for views and viral status once again pushed these thoughts aside, and he continued with the controversial video.
Time and time again Pepper acknowledges his own stupidity and expresses that he desires no sympathy, having created this situation for himself, but realises that he can't now continue creating videos until he has addressed the issues.
Pepper's video ends with a plea from the now visibly upset YouTuber: "I want a second chance. Like, I'm really asking you guys, please give me a second chance and I'll prove to you that I can make content that represents me as a person, that inspires."
"If you give me a second chance, I won't let you down."
You know what Sam? Okay. I for one am happy to go on record and say that I believe you. Yes, you have been stupid. Yes, you did deserve some of the backlash. But I can't reasonably present any evidence to suggest you are being deceitful here, and I am of the opinion that if the rape allegations were true, they would have been substantiated by now. Of course, words are easily spoken and it will be your coming actions that will provide the proof, one way or another. So please, Pep, don't make me look stupid for believing you now.
 |
| YouTube - Sam Pepper |
i'm sorry https://t.co/TtaI34mI5T— Sam Pepper (@sampepper) February 24, 2016
Honesty seems to be the keyword of Pepper's video, as he makes efforts to explain the apparently 'fake' persona he created for himself online. He speaks earnestly about how a desire to be the 'class clown' and stay ahead of the new wave of prank channels providing fresh competition led him to generate this falsified image of himself. He asserts that the infamous videos that created so much controversy were faked, with the consent of the supposed 'victims', in an effort to compete with the increasingly extreme content being created by his rivals.
Pepper does, however, also acknowledge the stupidity of his actions, both in creating the content and dealing with the resulting backlash. Discussing the 'Fake hand ass pinch prank' that started it all, he stated both a failure to think about public perception and inexperience in dealing with these situations as major contributing factors as to why the situation became so bad. After apparently realising that if he felt the need to fake the prank, it probably went too far and shouldn't have been uploaded, he admitted that the desperate hunt for views had clouded his judgement at the time, stating: "All I was thinking was like, 'oh this video will be really like, people will laugh, it's funny'. But I'm not thinking 'oh no they're gonna see me pinching a girl's butt and think "Who's this creep?"'"
This was the point that, according to Pepper, his own inexperience became the problem. Having never been in such a situation before, he says he simply didn't know how to deal with it and, unfortunately, picked the wrong approach by claiming that his video was part of a social experiment, rather than admitting to his mistake.
Then came the accusations of sexual assault, which Pepper obviously denies. He calls the claims "complete bull****", discussing in depth the pain it caused when he had to assure his family, friends and even even his girlfriend that he is not a rapist. This naturally had a massive impact on his viewing figures, meaning any attempts to take his channel back to its more innocent, silly roots proved unsuccessful.
Fearing for his financial security as his channel declined, Pepper approached Sam Golbach and Colby Brock with an idea. This turned into the highly controversial 'Killing best friend prank".
Pepper now admits that although he did know at the time that it was a crazy idea, pretty much guaranteed to create a backlash, his quest for views and viral status once again pushed these thoughts aside, and he continued with the controversial video.
Time and time again Pepper acknowledges his own stupidity and expresses that he desires no sympathy, having created this situation for himself, but realises that he can't now continue creating videos until he has addressed the issues.
Pepper's video ends with a plea from the now visibly upset YouTuber: "I want a second chance. Like, I'm really asking you guys, please give me a second chance and I'll prove to you that I can make content that represents me as a person, that inspires."
"If you give me a second chance, I won't let you down."
You know what Sam? Okay. I for one am happy to go on record and say that I believe you. Yes, you have been stupid. Yes, you did deserve some of the backlash. But I can't reasonably present any evidence to suggest you are being deceitful here, and I am of the opinion that if the rape allegations were true, they would have been substantiated by now. Of course, words are easily spoken and it will be your coming actions that will provide the proof, one way or another. So please, Pep, don't make me look stupid for believing you now.
You can watch Sam Pepper's full apology below.
Disclaimer: This video does contain some strong language.
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"I Won't Let You Down" - YouTube Star Sam Pepper Pledges Change as He Asks for Second Chance
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Rating:
Unknown
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