James Somerton called out for “manipulative” apology amid Hbomberguy allegations
James SomertonIn an apology video that was deleted after just hours of being up, James Somerton was torn apart by those who felt wronged by the way he presented his content. The creator admitted to not properly crediting creators, but many blasted him for the way in which he conducted himself during the over 30 minute apology.
James Somerton has been radio silent since Hbomberguy spent almost half of his 4 hour video about YouTube plagiarism focused on Somerton’s channel specifically. Hbomberguy claimed James plagiarized a large portion of his content from other creators on the platform, authors, and documentaries.
In the hours following Hbomberguy’s video, Somerton deleted everything; His YouTube videos were privated, his Patreon was taken down, and he stepped away from the internet entirely for a time. However, just a few weeks later, he’d come back with an apology video.
The reaction to that apology was scathing, leaving many unsatisfied with how he responded to the allegations placed against him and feeling as if he was still deflecting blame. As a result, Somerton deleted the apology mere hours after uploading it.
James Somerton deletes apology video following backlash
It didn’t take long for backlash to mount once James Somerton’s video was uploaded. Though he admitted fault with not properly crediting sources, he didn’t ever directly address the topic of plagiarism or acknowledge that the way in which he made his videos could be viewed in that way.
“I’m really, really sorry. For the stuff in the videos, the not crediting people and – for a lot of videos, I did the opening titles thing and I tried to put, ‘This is based on this person’s research or this person’s book’, but I know now that wasn’t enough. That wasn’t ok. There were a lot of times that stuff just got put in, and there was no attempt at crediting anybody.” James Somerton explained in his apology.
And, while some had a level of sympathy for Somerton’s claim that he was recently hospitalized as a result of events that unfolded following the video’s release, they found his video to be “manipulative”.
Jessie Gender, one of the people whose content was allegedly plagiarized by Somerton, put out an entire tweet thread and subsequent video explaining her feelings on the apology.
You can watch her full video for additional context, but the gist is that she felt his apology wasn’t much of an apology at all and that Somerton centered the video around himself rather than the victims.
“James has caused a lot of harm, and people deserved an apology. Frankly, this video was not that.”
Additionally, Somerton didn’t acknowledge yet another almost 2-hour video from Todd in the Shadows that broke down information Todd claims Somerton “made up” in many of his video essays outside of the plagiarism allegations. He also re-instated his Patreon and put many of his videos back up.
Somerton claimed that he put his Patreon back up so that those who were pledged to him monthly could take down their pledge. However, if Somerton truly didn’t want people’s money on his Patreon, creators have the ability to turn off monthly payments in case they feel as if they didn’t fulfill a promise to their patrons, whether it be a lack of content or exclusive rewards.
James Somerton even lied within the apology video, claiming he’d compile a list of every author he took content from without crediting. However, that list never came, and his video was swiftly deleted.
In all fairness, a full list of authors Somerton allegedly plagiarized from would take a long time to put together. Hbomberguy’s video displayed, in some cases, over a dozen authors whose work was directly or almost directly copied over to Somerton’s video without being credited. And that’s just one video.
Dan Olson (aka FoldingIdeas), a vocal critic of Somerton far before Hbomberguy’s video, also went on to call out Somerton in both the YouTube comments of the apology video and in his own tweet thread for spending thousands on new camera equipment while claiming he’d need more money from Patreon to stay afloat.
Somerton also told a lengthy story about his friendship with co-writer Nick being ruined as a result of the events that unfolded after Hbomberguy’s video came out, only to say he “never intended” for a lot of the content in his videos to be there, instead putting the blame on Nick.
“I want to apologize for the misinformation and outright lies that ended up in the videos, I can honestly say that I never intended for any of that stuff to be in the videos. In most cases, I didn’t write it.” claimed James Somerton.
Since uploading the video, not only has the apology been deleted, but James Somerton’s YouTube and Patreon have once again gone dark.
However, he made a community post that was up for a short time before his channel was gone from public view:
He promised to “apologize properly and in detail when I’m more mentally stable” before pulling his YT channel a short time after.
