Since this topic is in the current internet zeitgeist so I'll throw some words on the pile. Edit: this one's been sitting in the drafts for a long time, I cleaned it up. This is mostly anecdotal and not any serious analysis. Just some advice on how to deal with this stuff. Also it is another really long post under the break.
For context, there's an essay video guy, James Somerton, who was revealed by other at least two other essay video guys (the more well known one being hbomberguy) to be hella plagiarizing most of his shit. Just search this site for 'james somerton' and you'll find it if you are curious. It's overall about 5 hours of fact checking between two videos with some good humor thrown in.
Before I watched the one of these videos about him, I didn't know who the hell James Somerton even was. All of the other people called out in the videos are completely new to me as well. This is quite a normal experience these days. There's a LOT of youtubers. Some made a lucrative career out of it, and millions more are trying to recreate that success. It is not uncommon that whenever some youtuber is revealed to be a massive shithead that ppl in my circles make the same jokes, "where do these ppl come from" or "did they grow all these youtubers in a lab?" Years ago I came to a simple conclusion that the more money someone WANTS to make from youtube the more likely they are to be a terrible person. There are genuinely kind famous people. But I tend to be right more often than not.
Prior to his Roblox oof Sound video, I had only heard of hbomberguy a few times. Because of my view of youtube I simply thought of him as "a popular youtuber who I will never give a shit about because fuck popular youtubers." To be honest , I still kinda think about him that way. Another name I had been hearing about back then was Tommy Tallarico. He was already know to be a liar and narcissist. I heard his name along with warnings of his current ongoing scam and receipts about some of his lies.
Hbomberguy wasn't on my radar until the "Roblox Oof" video. Watching the it was entertaining and the twist caught me completely by surprise. A lot of what was in the latter part of it I already knew. But then of course, there was so much more. He went to depths I couldn't have even imagined. While watching it for the first and only time, I wished I had a big bowl of popcorn and extra butter because watching him absolutely tear into Tommy was fantastic.
The Somerton video was different, since Somerton and all the others mentioned were of that kind of youtuber that was grown in a lab as far as I know. Despite that, it was just as entertaining. Both are so similar. An investigation into the public acts of two men who had used the work of others to create a name for themselves, made a lot of money, and then also preyed upon fans and exploited them for so much more. There are countless people who are just like this. No matter what website you're on and they're actually pretty hard to see sometimes. Unless you want to deliberately sleuth out something you suspect already.
Another thing I liked about both videos was that there's not much criticism for tommy or james' fans. In fact, hbomberguy usually portrayed them of victims of the person they've come to idolize. He of course pointed out the horrible acts of harassment committed by some fans, but these acts don't really represent the group as a whole. He has nothing but empathy towards the fans who simply didn't know about all the lying, plagiarizm, scams, etc etc, and now may feel guilty and remorseful for being a fan at all.
That's when I remembered I used to be in that position once.
Much like the videos I am writing about, I have a twist. This post isn't about Hbomberguy, Tallarico, and Somerton. It's about Car Boys.
In august 2016 polygon uploaded the first few videos in series called Car Boys. It began as a collaborative let's play of BeamNG.drive, a "soft-body" driving simulator. The physics are impressive and it was prone to create something akin to severe body horror, but for cars. The most entertaining part of the game wasn't successfully driving a car, but crashing cars in increasingly fucked up ways. It's funny as hell. But what really made the series something special was the comedic personalities it featured: Nick Robinson and Griffin McElroy.
Car Boys began featuring many bits trying to destroy fictional vehicles into monstrous jagged scrap heaps. But also had a lot of humorous banter, and sometimes just a hint at what this series was about to become. Early on I described every episode as an "attempt on my life." As I would sometimes laugh so hard I began to have violent coughing fits. Another friend, told me how she laughed so hard she puked. It was already so goddamn funny and beloved only after the first several episodes. But it was going to become so much more.
As the episodes came one after another, Nick and Griffin started to create a narrative of their own. Each of the objects they brought into the virtual world of BeamNG became characters with goals, motives, etc. Instead of just a normal let's play, Car Boys became a work of fiction with plot hooks and conflicts, and the boys themselves were also characters in this narrative. They became the protagonists, many of the vehicles and other objects were personified in clever ways or turned into terrifying villains.
They presented themselves with problems that had to be solved in some manner or other. Until they brought in an object that threatened the world of BeamNG and it was their own fault. They must contain and defeat it to save the world and even themselves. At the time, this kind of narrative was unique and Car Boys may very well have been the first. It treaded new ground and it felt like it redefined what a youtube series could accomplish and become.
It was a work of art. A masterpiece and I loved it, considered it incredibly important. Similar to many fans, I began to idolize Griffin and Nick. They were soft boys who could do no harm, after all, they had created one of the most subversive pieces of media I had ever enjoyed.
Car Boys ended. Nick and Griffin started a new series called Touch the Skyrim. The premise being that Griffin would try to install as many mods as possible while keeping the game somewhat playable. Unlike Car Boys, Touch the Skyrim never reached a solid conclusion.
Nick Robinson was accused of sexually harassing many women. In person, or through private messages. He'd been doing it for a long time, before Car Boys even started.
When his actions came to light it hit me and many others hard. I had rewatched Car Boys twice since it had finished. I regarded it as one of the greatest pieces of media and that it needed to be celebrated. Both Nick and Griffin deserved praise for their incredible work. From my perspective all of that was destroyed in an instant. In reality, it had all been tarnished from the very start and we all simply didn't know or perhaps some did and turned a blind eye to it.
This revelation cause a great deal of harm. Mostly to the women he harassed. I don't know much about them, but I want to make it clear that nothing else I will mention probably comes close to the pain and fear they experienced. In my little corner of the internet it was nothing but despair. We felt betrayed, almost as bad as if it had been someone we knew and trusted like a friend. For fans like me it was a blunt and rude awakening to the nature of the internet and it's many "content creators." From this moment my tendency to despise the popular or wealthy had begun to grow into a particular nasty and vile opinion towards the ppl who enjoyed their works. I am glad I eventually got away from that line of thinking.
In his plagiarism video, hbomberguy speculates how many of the people who work with Somerton can potentially have their reputation tarnished. And it's very possible they simply didn't know what James had been doing. I can't really say for certain that's true. But, it's very similar to the aftermath of Car Boys.
What once was a celebrated work of art is now ruined forever. Imagine what it must be like for anyone else who worked on Car Boys. It was more than just Griffin McElroy. To have created such an amazing series which took a lot of hard work to put together, only to have it immediately become unpalatable to anyone aware of Nick's bullshit.
All he had to do was not be a horny lecherous bastard. Instead he hurt not just his own reputation, but that of his victims, coworkers, and the publication he once worked for. Entire videos, articles, reviews, etc became unenjoyable because well, it's got Nick in it and fuck that guy.
For example, there's a rather funny news clip in which Griffin attempts to eat an unpeeled banana from the stem. Because one of the trailers they were covering featured a first person view of the player character just shoving a banana in their face. Unpeeled. Stem first. It's such a good and funny bit that stuck with a lot of people including myself. Well, unfortunately Nick is also there. But I've seen a few edits that remove him which in a strange way only makes the bit more funny. Just Patrick and Griffin. No one else. Or replacing Nick with Hatsune Miku. (Wait maybe there's a good idea to make Car Boys funny once more).
Polygon continued making videos, many of which rival the genius of Car Boys in their concept. To be quite honest most of them have much better writing and delivery. Brian David Gilbert and the unraveled series of videos is a great watch I highly recommend it. Pat Gill's Please Retweet is short but brought a smile to my face every time.
But I learned my lesson. I enjoyed the videos genuinely again, but didn't come to idolize BDG or anyone else like I had for the Car Boys. But I still see so many make the same mistake I once did.
Bury your heroes. Not because they might turn out to be dickheads. But because idolizing youtubers, twitch streamers, artists, etc. is not a healthy thing for any individual or the audience they are a part of. Recognize that what you like about this person isn't really who they are, it's the persona that they have presented online to make what they are doing fun and interesting. Celebrate their works, but distance yourself from the person they might actually be. Many of these people are just chasing clout, power, social capital, or just straight up cash money babyyyy!
Of course, many are just struggling to pay rent and clothe and feed themselves and their loved ones. It's because of this that i've come to prefer the smaller nooks and corners in the vast world of twitch and youtube. But that's just me, the thing is watching this stuff is fun. Whether it's a trans vtuber with less than 30 ppl in their chat or some massive youtube channel with millions of subscribers that makes a shitload of money. No one should feel guilty about what they have come to enjoy, so long as that thing is not doing harm or spreading misinformation or plagiarizing or harassing people. There's tons of shit out there that doesn't appear to be doing those things.
If it's revealed that what you enjoy is causing some kind of harm there may be pain for you as you reconcile with the idea that what you love is a lie.
My advice in the past has been to avoid idolizing anyone you don't know personally and offline. These days it's more about trying to recognize the difference between being someone's friend and being someone's audience. And also to recognize when someone is trying to scam their fans.
I've started watching some of hbomberguy's other videos. I kinda see why people really liked him before the oof video. I can also see why people would like Somerton as well. There may be people who continue to defend him and I'd avoid those obviously. But for those of you who are experiencing the sting of having a beloved and cherished part of your life be unmasked as nothing more than a scam, I know that feeling all to well.
I can't ever watch Car Boys again. The joy and laughter gone forever. But it wasn't the only place I found joy and I looked to those places for comfort. That's what helped me through the pain.