To anyone knowledgeable of YouTubers, the name Sam Pepper carries a negative connotation. Increasingly over the past five years, this prankster has posted videos that have elicited negative reactions from his two million subscribers and other YouTube content creators. Back in 2010, his pranks were more harmless with genuine reactions, and the community of prank accounts was so small that he began to build a following doing these videos. However, due to the growing climate of pranksters on YouTube all intent on cashing in views and ad revenue, Pepper made the unfortunate decision to upgrade his pranks to disturbing and somewhat illegal heights. After a series of offensive uploads such as a “social experiment” of pinching girls’ bums in public and a prank on another YouTube pair in which Pepper fabricates the kidnapping and execution of one of the boys, the hate comments and accusations toward Pepper crescendoed. He was banned from several YouTube events that had previously included all creators. Petitions were crafted in an attempt to have his channel deleted. These incessant reactions to Pepper’s videos continued for a year and a half. Then finally, on February 21st, he deleted all of his Youtube videos and tweets, leaving just one sinister message:

After months of viewers hassling him about sexual harassment and creating pranks that were blatantly over the line and insensitive, the prankster finally cracked. For many it was a vindictive moment, watching the corrupt empire of this abuser fall. For three days, offended viewers rejoiced the quit, and loyal viewers mourned. The Internet could only ponder the future of Pepper’s internet career, and then this appeared:

Pepper’s twenty-minute apology video is an uncut and thorough explanation of his actions. He confesses that many of his pranks were faked in order to get views and stay with the current trends of pranking. His admissions of his wrongdoings are reassuring, but they in no way excuse that at one point in time, he thought it was okay to exploit girls and the friendships of others for the sake of comedy and a monthly income.

He states in his apology, “Of course in real life I know I can’t do [what I did in my pranks]; that’s why I faked it.” As a feminist and a general supporter of men keeping their hands to themselves, I am failing to see how sexual harassment and literally enacting a teenager being shot in the head ceases to be a crime as long as it’s faked. If something is intended as a joke, does that mean that it’s inherently harmless? Is the girl who just got out of a three-year abusive relationship with a locked heart and fingers poised to call 911 at the first sight of a predator laughing because of Pepper's charm and totally harmless and friendly poke in the backside?

Pepper's excuse of using these controversial topics as a prank is a perfect example of comedian Bo Burnham’s message in his song “Sad.” In Bo’s satirical and painfully accurate lyrics, he states, “Being a comedian isn't being an insensitive prick capitalizing on the most animalistic impulses of the public, it's being a hero!” In Pepper’s case, the public was less forgiving after seeing the horrific aftermath of his “pranks,” such as rape accusations against him being brought forward from several different sources and years of occurrence.

My main issue with Pepper’s apology is that he expects to continue YouTubing after all that has conspired. He hopes to move forward, remain genuine from now on, and put his past behind him. What I'm stuck on is this: if you are accused of misconduct in your workplace, you don’t just give an apology and have a do-over. You get fired. For the amount of time that Pepper discusses his fears of his content being unsustainable for him to make a living, you think he would take the hint. Rapists don't deserve second chances.

Pepper’s apology does not excuse his actions; it is simply his recognition that he has done wrong. Who knows if it is enough to console the girls and boys’ lives which Pepper has ungraciously tampered with, but for the 80,000 people that marked his “I’m sorry” video with a thumbs up, perhaps it’s the first step toward lessening the onslaught of hate comments that have been bombarding Pepper. Through his first five years of video-making, Pepper has already proved that he will go to monumental lengths in order to get views and money. What’s to say that he won’t exploit his power again in the future? Where is the trust between creator and viewer that he won’t hurt others again?

The irony is that he will continue to profit off of his mistakes. His video has over 66,000 dislikes, but who knows how much those 1.7 million views earned him. Since posting his apology video, he has posted 3 addition vlog-style videos, each resting with views in the hundreds of thousands and a considerable dislike count.

So what’s your verdict? Do you consider Sam Pepper forgivable? Is his attempt to recreate his social media platforms heroic and resilient, or a futile attempt to gain back what he has lost? Should his Youtube continue to grow, or should he be penalized for what he has committed? Perhaps only time (and a corrupt law system that often claims rape allegations are faked) will tell.