James Somerton Scandal

The James Somerton Scandal refers to a scandal involving former YouTuber and video essayist James Somerton that began when fellow YouTuber hbomberguy released a video titled Plagiarism and You(Tube), in which he alleges the content of Somerton's videos were prominantly plagiarised from other writers.
Alongside the plagiarism, issues of misinformation and misogyny were also levied at Somerton, both in the initial video and subsequent sources, including a subsequent video, I Fact-Checked The Worst Video Essayist On YouTube, by Todd in the Shadows.
The scandal lead to a dialogue and discussion online around plagiarism.
==History==
===Initial Video===
Plagiarism and You(Tube) begins by exploring how plagiarism manifests on YouTube, including ways to spot it, what might motivate it, and what tricks plagiarists use to disguise it. A bit under two hours into the video, in a chapter titled "The Twist You Expected", hbomberguy reveals that the true subject of the video is James Somerton.
====Plagiarism====
Somerton is alleged to have plagiarised or stolen from:
* documentaries such as The Celluloid Closet
* books such as Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out by Sean Griffin
* fellow video essayists such as Alexander Avila (aka @AreTheyGay).
*Besides writers and other video essayists, Somerton also used footage from a Legend of Korra AMV centred on the ship Mako/Wu. The video, (Wuko) Crush (Mako x Wu) by MoonFlower_art, has over 39k views as of 8th December 2023, thousands more than any of the vidder's previous videos, and the comments section features many references to the situation.Tumblr post by @gemsandjunk (Dec 5, 2023).
 
====Misinformation====
==== Misogyny ====
====Other====
hbomberguy created a playlist titled Your New Favorite YouTubers showcasing other queer youtubers and video essayists, including verilybitchie, Khadija Mbowe, Princess Weekes, CJ the X, Sarah Z, and Rowan Ellis.
Outside of the accusations, the Somerton section of the video references Gyakuten Saiban, i.e Ace Attorney, even including a trial section resembling the games' pixel art style and animation.
===Further Videos===
====Todd in the Shadows====
Merely a day after the initial video, music review channel Todd in the Shadows released the video I Fact-Checked The Worst Video Essayist On YouTube, focusing this time on the incorrect and unsourced information presented by Somerton in his videos.
====The Ace Couple====
On 13th December 2023, Courtney Lane and Royce from The Ace Couple podcast released their video We were personally victimized by James Somerton, in which they criticise Somerton's behaviour in regards to both the wider ace community, as well as their own experience with him after donating money for the hope of ace representation in his Telos films.
===Further Accusations===
Another allegation, posted by Tumblr user sagegarnish, documents a supposed event in which Somerton is accused of using fanart of Hannigram without permission from the respective artists.Tumblr post by @sagegarnish (Dec 21, 2023). (archive links: post, image of apology)
===Apologies and Apparent Pseuicide===
On 20th December 2023, Somerton released his initial 'apology' video. It wasn't received well. He deleted the video soon after.
On 26th February 2024, he released a second apology video. It was pointed out that this video 'A Measured Response' uses the exact same phrasing as hbomberguy's series of the same name. This second video was also deleted, and an apparent suicide note was allegedly posted on his private Twitter account on 5th March. On 6th March, his co-writer Nick stated on his bluesky that as far as he was aware, there was "nothing to worry about",Nick @ntherrgott.bsky.social (Mar 6, 2024): i'm aware of the tweet and the situation. right now and to my knowledge, there's nothing to worry about. Bluesky post. and on 11th March, Kat Lo, a producer who works with hbomberguy, confirmed Somerton's safety following a wellfare check.Burman, Theo (13 March 2024). YouTuber James Somerton confirmed safe after apparent suicide note goes viral. Dexerto. (archive link)
On 8th May 2024, YouTuber Lady Emily shared screenshots on her Twitter, @GreatCheshire, that appeared to show Somerton having "rebranded his alt account then posted about tv shows and horny posted" on the same day that he allegedly posted a suicide note to his other account, and consistently used this account over the following months. She also alleged that Somerton had used this alternate account as a sockpuppet to defend himself to other Twitter users.James Somerton Suicide Hoax. Know Your Meme. Accessed May 13, 2024. (archive link)
===Responses from Co-writer Nick===
*plagiarism: my response (around(?) 7th Dec 2023)
===Response from other YouTubers===
Several YouTubers released videos either addressing the scandal, or discussing what should occur going forward. Many of these were video essayists, or inhabited similiar spaces or niches within the YouTube sphere as Somerton:
*What James Somerton can teach us (Dec 2023) by Council of Geeks
*James Somerton & Community Solidarity by Jessie Gender
*Plagiarism and the Death of the Video Essay (Mar 2024) by Zoe Bee
TomSka released a video titled TomSka's Guide To Plagiarism (The Somerton Scale) in which he outlines a scale of plagiarism he dubbed 'The Somerton Scale of Plagiarism'. Unrelatedly, he also references Goncharov in said video, comparing it to a drawing of a dog as an example of the first point of 'No Correlation'.
Other YouTubers also started referencing the scandal in their videos without focusing on it, such as in Jack Saint's vid It's so much worse than you thought. about Squid Game.
==Impact on Fandom==
===Fans===
====Tumblr Comparison====
Some fans have noticed that some of Somerton's arguments around fandom resemble those posted on Tumblr. Several of these bloggers have wondered whether Somerton was influenced by these arguments, or whether he influenced Tumblr.
Tumblr user talaricula criticized other Tumblr users' astonishment at Somerton's viewers' failure to clock his misogyny and racism, drawing parallels to Tumblr culture:Tumblr post by talaricula (Dec 7, 2023). (archive link)
===Other Creators===
==Resources & External Links==
*HBomberguy vs. James Somerton Plagiarism Scandal - KnowYourMeme page
*James Somerton Suicide Hoax - KnowYourMeme page
==References==
Category:YouTube
Category:2023 Events
Category:2024 Events