Within the past year, there have been an array of cases surrounding sexual assault and rape claiming that YouTube celebrities were the perpetrators. Currently, there have been more than 30 different YouTubers accused of sexual assault or rape including some big names like Alex Day, Tom Milsom, Ed Blant, and as of recently Jason (VeeOneEye) and Sam Pepper. These cases sparked outrage throughout the YouTube community, but Sam Pepper’s case has elicited the most response. Sexual assault and rape have been issues in the YouTube community for years. It is only now that they are coming to light.

On September 20th, 2014, the British YouTuber, Sam Pepper, pictured on the left, uploaded a video titled “Fake Hand Ass Pinch Prank.” This video depicted a “prank” in which Sam Pepper put a sleeve of his sweater in his pocket to make it seem like it was his real arm. He started by just asking for directions. When giving directions, the women were startled to find that his arm was fake by feeling his real hand touch their butt. This video was taken down within a few days. The YouTube community was in an uproar because the video had blatant acts of sexual assault. However, since it was a “prank,” many of Pepper’s fans supported him. Sam Pepper then released a second video showing a woman doing the same prank to men. This was removed from YouTube for breaking the terms of service. The trilogy ended with a video called “Fake Hand Ass Pinch Prank – THE REVEAL”, in which Sam Pepper stated that the “Fake Ass Pinch Prank” videos were a “social experiment.” He said he wanted to shed light on the fact that men can also be sexually assaulted. He states that he was sexually assaulted at conferences and meetups. Many disregarded his explanation after stories came out that he allegedly raped some of his younger fans. This video is now set on private, and Sam Pepper’s channel was taken down on September 22^nd– the same day he posted “The Reveal.”

Many prominent and not so prominent  creators  have made videos voicing their opinion about this situation. There are some of the videos below, for those who are curious. Hank Green, organizer of VidCon (one of the biggest conventions in online video), as well as the official PlaylistLive twitter (the twitter for another big online video convention) released tweets implying that Sam Pepper was not invited to these events. Playlist Live went so far as to remove him from their guest list for their upcoming event, Playlist Live Tri-State, happening in November. Laci Green, a prominent sex-ed creator on YouTube wrote a letter to Sam Pepper. Over 100,000 people cosigned the letter, including Youtube celebrities Tyler Oakley, TomSka, ViHart, Grace Helbig, John and Hank Green, Jack Howard, Hannah Hart, and many others. The Fine Brothers, creators of the show “YouTubers React,” tweeted that Pepper will never be a part of the show again.

The sad part is that this video is not the only video in which Sam Pepper violates women. In one of his previous “pranks,” he “picked up girls” by physically restraining them with a lasso. This video has over 1,000,000 views. In another one of his “classic” videos, Pepper handcuffed himself to girls and wouldn’t let them free until they kissed him. There was also another video where he forced girls to kiss him. It is very clear in all of his videos that the women are resistant to what he is doing to them, and that they clearly did not enjoy the experience of the “prank.” It is a shame that it took the YouTube community this long to realize that all of these “pranks” are just sexual assault caught on video.

Unfortunately, this is not only a problem in the YouTube community.  It is also a big issue in the US. It is said that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men are sexually abused before the age of 18. There were 188,380 reports of rape and/or sexual assault in the United States in 2010. Unfortunately, only about half of the cases of sexual assault are reported, often because of fear.  It is very important for people to talk about these issues. Victims need the support of those around them, and the predators need to be removed from their pedestals.