Sam Pepper
Samuel Pepper (born 26 March 1989) is a British internet personality, prankster, TikToker and former YouTuber. He created his YouTube channel in 2010, which has accumulated over 2 million subscribers and 55 million video views . No new content has been uploaded to his channel since March of 2017. Pepper has since amassed more than 4 million followers on TikTok as of October 2021. Early life and education. Pepper was born in Ashford, Kent, England. He is of half Greek descent. He attended Pent Valley Technology College. Section::::"Big Brother 11". In 2010, Pepper took part in the 11th season  of the British reality television series "Big Brother" as a housemate, entering the house on day 52 as Laura's replacement as part of the "Ignore the Obvious" task. He was evicted on day 73 with 14.6% of the public vote. Online career. YouTube popularity rise and controversy (2010–2015). On 8 September 2010, Pepper created his YouTube channel and began uploading videos, mainly consisting of pranks. From late-2013 to mid-2014, Pepper, alongside friend and fellow YouTube personality Marius "Maz" Listhrop, began his worldwide comedy tour, "WDGAF Tour". Sexual harassment allegations. In September 2014, Pepper uploaded a controversial video titled "Fake  Hand Ass Pinch Prank". In the video, Pepper would go up to women and ask for directions before pinching their buttocks. Soon after the video was published, many women stated that they had been sexually harassed or raped by Pepper. Subsequently, the hashtag #ReportSamPepper trended on Twitter, along with many people criticising Pepper's actions. Pepper released another video a few days later where women would go behind men and pinch their buttocks. On the same day, he published another video explaining that his first prank was a "social experiment" and that the video was "staged and scripted". He went  on to say that sexual harassment was "the focal point of the experiment". Pepper removed both of these videos from YouTube shortly after their releases. Fellow video blogger Laci Green published a video called "Sam Pepper Exposed", addressing the sexual harassment allegations to Pepper. Green also wrote an open letter calling on Pepper to "stop violating women and making them uncomfortable on the street for views". The letter received more than 100,000 signatures, including many fellow YouTube personalities. Killing Best Friend Prank. In November 2015, Pepper uploaded a video entitled "Killing Best Friend Prank". The video features internet personalities Sam  Golbach and Colby Brock. In the video, a masked Pepper kidnaps Golbach and Brock (the latter of whom was in on the prank alongside Pepper), who are parked at an unknown location, shoving Golbach into the trunk of the car with a bag over his head. Brock helps Pepper tie up Golbach and take him to a rooftop, where he is forced to watch Pepper "shoot" Brock, leaving Golbach in tears. The video caused a backlash on social media, also hitting media headlines. British newspaper "Metro" compared the video to an "ISIS-style execution". A subsequent online petition to have  Pepper removed from YouTube gained over 100,000 signatures. In an interview with "Metro", Pepper stated that the criticism towards the video and himself was "shocking". In the same interview, Golbach stated that the message of the video was "about living life to the full... not taking life for granted and loving it because it's short". In response to the ongoing criticism, Pepper started a GoFundMe campaign, stating that he would delete his YouTube channel if $1.5 million was pledged to him. The campaign was removed shortly afterwards, along with the accompanying video that was posted on his YouTube  channel. Apology and rebranding (2016–present). On 21 February 2016, Pepper made all of his YouTube videos private and deleted all of his tweets, save for one stating "I give up". He uploaded a 20-minute video on 24 February titled "i'm sorry". In the video, Pepper confessed that many of his pranks, including his controversial "Killing Best Friend Prank", were staged. He also denied all allegations of sexual harassment and rape towards him. He apologised for his videos, calling himself an "idiot" and stated that he would continue uploading on YouTube and "make content that I really believe  in". After the video was published, Pepper stopped uploading prank videos and began uploading vlogs, subsequently receiving a more positive response. In 2018, Pepper stopped uploading on his main channel and rebranded to his "Sam Pepper Live" channel, where he began vlogging and frequently live streaming alongside fellow live streamer Ice Poseidon. The following year, Pepper rebranded once again and became inactive on YouTube, subsequently shifting to TikTok. He mainly posts short comedy videos consisting of "challenge videos, life–hacks, and stunts"; the "Metro" described his presence on the platform as a "fully-fledged comeback". His current audience is more  than 2.16 million YouTube subscribers. Cryptocurrency scam allegations. In June 2021, Sam Pepper along with members of FaZe Clan were influencer ambassadors for a crypto token called Save The Kids (KIDS) which was marketed as a charity token meant to give a percentage of the transaction fee to the Binance Charity Wallet. The token was then pumped and dumped by many of the ambassadors and the token's value quickly crashed shortly after when it was released.