Sam Pepper has claimed his ‘ass pinch prank’ videos were a social experiment to raise awareness of male sexual harassment.
In a new video titled “Fake Hand Ass Pinch Prank – THE REVEAL (part 3/3)”, Sam explained the women being touched in his original video were aware of what was happening and why he was making the video.
Sam cited his own experience of being inappropriately touched by fans and shared the story of a male friend who was the victim of domestic abuse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf2beNubWj4
Sam said it was his intention to juxtapose the audience’s reaction of women being harassed on the street vs. men going through the same thing.
Sam said: “In the video of the women getting pinched, the comments were mainly against the video which was great and to be expected. In the video with the men, the response wasn’t as intense. There was a lack of anger, even for those who thought it was wrong.”
“No one seemed to care as much, and that was the problem… sometimes we forget that men have the right to not be assaulted or touched inappropriately… For a man to ask for help in our current culture, it can be viewed as weak and pathetic. Which is probably the saddest thing of all.”
Sam originally uploaded his ‘ass pinch prank’ video on Friday. The clip showed him pinching women’s behinds with his hand concealed by his jacket. It was removed by YouTube on Monday.
He uploaded a second video on Tuesday which he claimed was ‘Part 2 of 3’. The video showed the same ‘prank’ being pulled but with a young woman in the place of Sam Pepper, pinching men with a concealed arm.
The second video was removed by YouTube the same morning “because its content violated YouTube’s Terms of Service”.
In the video description of ‘The Reveal’, Sam linked to an organisation called Help Guide which helps those suffering from depression and abuse.
He tweeted the following after posting the video.
https://twitter.com/sampepper/status/514425098980188160
Some of Sam’s audience showed their relief on Twitter that Sam was posting these videos for a cause.
@sampepper I'm so glad you did this, so people see what it can actually cause
— katie (@mdmakatie) September 23, 2014
However a number of prominent YouTubers have called into question his sincerity in trying to tackle the issue of harassment.
https://twitter.com/LiamDrydenEtc/status/514439159789146112
The abuse of men is a serious and legitimate issue So how about just draw attention to it in its own right?
— Creepy Dungate (@ScarfDemon) September 23, 2014
Neither Pepper nor his network Collective Digital Studios have commented on the public reaction to his videos.
Follow the story:
- Sam Pepper faces ‘prank’ backlash
- Mazzi Maz says Sam has ‘gone too far’
- Sam says prank was ‘to raise awareness’
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