DJS0#
I'm probably not going to smash the go public button on this one, but I needed to get this out of my system. I might update it further, might take it down, who knows, let's find out.
Comments (120)
this is quite frankly one of my favorite dan olson videos
The illiterate father is definitely my favorite character, followed closely by the turtleneck
I just can't get past how he once again emphasised how "Nik had to take over the writing entirely." It really makes HBomb's theory that he was trying to set Nik up for the fall if he got caught.
Rewatching this in light of the James Rolfe video ("he doesn't want to make films, he wants to be a filmmaker... he has nothing to say" and "you're not a filmmaker either" specifically) really giving me an existential crisis about my ability to be creative (writing short stories, in my case) 🥲
I'm seconding Mickey Looney here. I heard about this video on reddit and came here to track it down, becoming a patreon in the process. I think this would be important to have public, given both recent events and what he put Jessie through.
mister olson you do whatever you want to do but i cannot be the only person who would like this video to be public, james fully faked his own suicide and he's right back to making content and i'm pissed about it lmao
Coming back to this on 5/8 after James' fake alt accounts were exposed post-faked suicide. I just genuinely can't wrap my brain around how sick you have to be to fake your death and jerk off 15 minutes later, then comment as an alt about how you did nothing wrong.
Wait, what?
fixing the aspect ratio is diabolical shade XD
I've been watching a few responses to the apology, and even people who are wholly against Somerton tend to phrase their responses in a way that gives James some tiny shred of doubt. "This is doesn't make sense, I think he might be making this up, but it's hard to say for certain." And it is very refreshing to come back to this and just see someone say "No, that didn't happen. He is a liar, and he's lying right now."
Liking your own comment is such a mood lmao
I do think you should make it public, your perspective as a Canadian AND filmmaker adds a lot to the unpacking of this BS
EXACTLY
Thank you so much for covering the medical discrimination thing! As an American I heard him say he was explicitly fired due to having epilepsy and went ????? That’s blatantly illegal??? No employer would leave themself that open to being sued???? But then realized I technically don’t know Canadian laws and couldn’t say for sure how much of a lie that was. Glad to have a more solid answer now
Again, if you’re leaving school at like… five to seven years old, what the hell kind of job are you getting that would support a large family? It’s what’s so annoying about the lies James tells: There are bits that technically could be true, but overall simply don’t make sense.
I keep thinking about the kickstarter. It is like a child making up pretend money when playing Grocery Store. That'll be 3 thousand dollarbucks for a Movie, please. Even the 87K is like, yes a LOT of money that I'd love to have. But its not like, quit your job, fake your death, move to a tropical island, never work again, kind of money. That's buckle down on this project because you got a once in a lifetime chance to really prove yourself money.
Truly the only thing that rang true for me in the Somerton video was his claim of ADHD. Just that he has it, mind you. Not that it explains or excuses or exonerated him from anything. Just that—yeah, dude may well have ADHD and I would t be surprised if he’s not treating it medicating for it because he doesn’t want to lose is “creative genius” or whatever. (I have ADHD, and lots of his avoidance of the hard work felt familiar.)
Such a great point at the end! That is definitely a point that brought out a lot of frustration for me in the investigation hbomberguy did so well and this apology video. It is very hard to breakdown huge creative projects, and there are a lot of people who feel overwhelmed by it, or don't have the executive function for it, or don't know all the skills required. Instead of using this as an opportunity to break that down, reflect on what parts were not working/attended to, and even sharing that to help others with that problem it got turned into "but here is all the reasons it will continue to stay bad and you shouldn't think it is a problem". He gave an exemplar in excusing a destructive process, rather than how to reform it. It's disappointing for those who will learn that lesson instead.
I was esspically taken aback by his dad's supposed illiteracy, like it's such an extra detail that in no way can be true that it borders on absurdity.
I have a client who would be Somerton’s dad’s age, and he is completely illiterate. USA here, but it can happen.
The story about his Dad makes me wonder if they're from Alberta... because that sounds like a rural Alberta going to work on a farm moment (they didn't start to question drop out rates until the 1970s and even now there are rural exemptions to allow dropout at Grade 9). (As a former Alberta Hutterite colony teacher, I am so curious by that weird one off comment from him!) But also this apology video feels like an undergrad getting busted for plagiarism and trying to feed the TA (me) every excuse possible to not get reported to the prof.
There are similar rural communities in most provinces I think.
He seems to have such clarity around all events that occurred. Except when it comes to remembering the parts he had written. Wildly precise memory loss there
I really want to post that DM of the Rings strip here about oddly specific amount of tiredness, but I 1) don't know how to post pics to Patreon and 2) don't know if anyone else would get that reference. I'm so old 😭
Really loved this. Hope you will make these insights public. The discourse could use it.
This is a description I've previously heard about Mr. Beast. But, I feel like it applies to James. This person feels like someone that has excessively studied Youtube videos and Youtubers for everything he does. His videos have the structure of a typical video essay, apology, etcetera...but they are fundamentally missing in understanding of what those things are supposed to contain. He can't just make an apology for something he did. He has to have a sob backstory, since that's the kind of apology videos that get the most views. His BtS videos feature really expensive equipment because those are featured in the BtS videos of huge Youtubers that people watch quite a lot...but without having a fundamental understanding of scope or the consequences of featuring that equipment. And so on and so forth.
At least Mr beast isn't lazy a bit shallow understanding the implications of some of his videos themes and premises but not lazy
When James claimed what amounted to illegal workplace discrimination, my dislike for him turned into full on disgust. He will never stop being a lying, lazy grifter and I hope he disappears from the internet forever.
Love it
8:13 Very powerful image. Feels like i'm about to start an undertale fight
The phrase that comes to my mind when thinking about his explanation of telos is "criminal mismanagement".
Also it doesn't even make sense that he intended to use the copy-pasted material as a jumping off point because he ALTERED IT to make it different enough from the original that no one would notice he stole it. So either he altered it and then forgot he copy-pasted/altered it and then assumed it was his own work, or he copy-pasted it, forgot he did so and assumed it was his own work, and then altered it, which makes no sense, like why would you go through the process of changing key words to something that you had already written and was already perfectly fine. So the only explanation that does make sense is that he copy-pasted and then maliciously, knowingly altered the text, and then forgot that he did it, which is still a huge issue, and makes us even less able to trust him because how could he ever possibly be sure that he would never do that again if he doesn't even remember doing it. This might be a real excuse if it had only happened a few times and if he hadn't been so methodical about trying to cover his tracks. But he did, he had several phases of plagiarism, and we aren't going to forget that.
Whether or not you decide to publish this publicly, I do want to share that I was very amused by the image of 7-year-old James-dad going to work to feed his many, many infant siblings. :)
Wait, when did his father leave school to work? Like, does Canada have a different grade?
According to B&H, the combined cost of all those cameras you mentioned at the beginning is around $19,670 ($14,500~ USD) - That's before lenses and other equipment - God knows what microphones he uses
That epilepsy stuff is such horsepiss
If you're taking a poll, my vote is for publishing this. It was awesome and informative and imo constitutes a genuinely original contribution to the discourse around Somerton (not that I deem that last point particularly important, but I imagine you might).
Dan, can you share your opinion on why the aspect ration is so odd? Any wild theories is acceptable
Id chalk it up to internalized fatphobia. James has vocally, visibly struggled with it in the past, from his style of dress to his camera angles/shots to one of his personal goals being weight loss surgery. The man is VERY insecure about how he looks. He probably squished the aspect ratio to make himself appear thinner.
On a rewatch of this, and I can’t help but see the parallels between James & John Brinkley from Nuts! (Thank you for recommending that as well in your vids) cause he clearly demonstrates “what happens when the grifter gets found out? They runoff & seek a new audience.” & the cynic in me would be willing to bet we’ll see “I apologize And here’s why ” probably within 4 months. I get that it also feels like petty drama, though as someone with congenital birth defects where my day to day is thankfully at most mildly impacted, watching James use every plausible gesture toward disability, trauma, & malady to explain “here’s why I stole from others, passed it off as my own, lied, and also tried to grift my fans; all cause I wanted prestige & YouTube creator can potentially pay pretty well” honestly spiked my bp. I do feel people should be aware he may try it again, but i get why people also say hold off on the publish.
i hate it when my illiterate father aggravates my head-injury-induced memory issues and i just 🙄 start plagiarizing all over the place 🙄
Not sure anyone else has noticed this, but uhh... the story about his dad's youth seems not only fake, but a kind of fairy tale made up by a person who has never seen that level of poverty. Not being broke, not even being poor, but poverty at the level of "dropped out of gradeschool to work." Not to overshare or anything, but part of my family has. One of my grandparents got a 3rd grade education, another made it to 6th. They'd be almost 90 if they were alive today, so I'm willing to bet that they were older than JS's dad. Oh and they were from rural areas of what was (and is) essentially a colonial territory. They could read and write just fine. Now, I'm not trying to dispute low literacy rates. People have disabilities, poverty is different for different people, etc. But the way James describes this just does not add up. He's not saying his dad needed some help with legal forms from a son with much more formal education; he's saying his dad was a Dickensian street urchin. It's a claim just as absurd as the epilepsy and memory issues, IMO. (Also I'd love to add my vote to everyone asking for some version of this to be public! I think debunking this stuff is important)
There are people here in the maritimes that are in their 50s and 60s that are illiterate. I actually have a book „written“ by one such person who survived the Westray mining accident. He’s in his 60s now I believe. Rural Nova Scotia has a lot of poverty and not a whole lot of prospects outside of Halifax. I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss this. James is very much a liar and everyone has a right for sure to be skeptical but this was one thing I didn’t actually question. Edit to add: I do agree with Dans point though that he did not need to tell us any of this? It’s not even remotely relevant information and it’s not like we needed to know this about his father (if true). It’s just him trying to gain sympathy 1000% and it is ridiculous.
The part about low budget filmmaking is so true. I worked on a low budget feature film (20000-25000 total I think) that went to a couple festivals and even had a limited cinema release in Germany (I'm in Berlin) and it only got made because everyone worked on it for free. (I think two people in post production got paid once the distributor came on board and gave some money to finally finish editing it after two years but that's it). I worked for free as the costume designer (and was in two non speaking roles). It was my first year of fashion school and 2020 so I didn't have much else going on. It's a queer campy film called Captain Faggotron that was truly the Berlin queer art scene coming together. We often shot without permits and really only spend money where it was absolutely unavoidable and the other major reason it worked is that as a campy film looking cheap was not a problem. Currently working on a short with my partner, who was the producer on the other film, and our budget is 3000 and I think we can make it work (and we do intend to pay people a little). Our script is nearly done after one year and we're hoping to shoot this winter. Movies really do take forever. But it is possible to make queer low budget films if you have that drive and community around you. But somehow I think connecting with other queer artists and working on their projects and then have them wanting to work on yours and building that artistic community is not something he's actually interested in.
Even if we allowed for forgetting Copy/paste of text, all his guff about memory loss falls apart when it comes to nicking Are They Gay videos and sticking them into his film editing software. Did he mis-remember this and think that he somehow made Avila's videos? We know he didn't because we know the conversations they had about them. So many things like this he didn't mention because he knows there is no way to bullshit around them.
Hey Dan, you seem as tired of this as I feel. Great video. I think it's a good idea to avoid further feeding the larger public drama mill, personally, although there are some insights here that could do with seeing the light of day... Also I finally backed your Patreon, I've been slack on that. Cheers. Eric from back in the day.
Okay, so, I work in the US, but I have over 20 years experience working in kitchens, and I have worked with many people with many different medical conditions, including epilepsy. Right away, I knew what James was saying was bullshit. He just thinks getting a "regular" job is beneath him, so he's clinging to the YouTube thing like a deck chair thrown over the Titanic. Pathetic.
I also have 20+ years in F&B and not only have I worked with and hired people with epilepsy, I have a cousin with epilepsy who also worked F&B for years.
Competent professionals explaining technicalities of their work that the average person has no real opportunity to learn about is my favourite genre. Obviously, the current case is not great, but I appreciate the opportunity to know more about Canadian filmmaking.
Even if everything happens to be true (the brain injury, memory issues, his father's tragic backstory), none of it excuses plagiarism. Nothing excuses plagiarism.
As an aside: this is the third instance I've seen (across industries) of someone using this process-based excuse for plagiarism. Like, copy-and-pasting other people's work into YOUR PROJECT DOCS so that you can... go back... and change it to be your own idea? How is this a thing people are doing? Admitting to such a shockingly low-effort process doesn't seem much better than plagiarizing. The truth of what someone has done must be much, much worse to make this an excuse worth parading.
I mean, this is a standard work process for many people write text for a living. I am currently in the process of writing soon-to-be sent out to the publishers non-fiction book, and some parts that are background, and not my opinions, are a patchwork of other peoples' work that was compiled, paraphrased, shortened, contrasted with each other and such. The issue is not with the copy-pasting, the issue is with citing WHO did you copy-paste from.
The brain damage bit is actually hilarious, like I can't believe he really went there.
I'm definitely thinking, at the very least, the parts where you talk about experiences making films (particularly in Canada) and thus explaining why JS is full of crap can be its own video. That is a unique perspective most of the people doing "measured responses" don't have.
I appreciate the use of the term "fabulist". I might start using that myself--allows me to say what I would mean by calling someone a pathological liar without the armchair diagnosis that carries. After all, it doesn't matter why they're always lying, just that they are, in fact, always lying
Just chiming in to say I remember James mentioning getting "a knock on the head leading to some slight brain damage" (paraphrasing here) in the J. K. Rowling-video - still a bullshit excuse, though 🤷♀️
Thanks for this breakdown. I've watched stuff like Jessie Gender's video (who is very nice about it with all kinds of benefits of doubt, but does demand to see a police report about the alleged harassment) and Council of Geek's video (who thought that James producing good original fiction was his way to redemption, not YouTube. Which ... not gonna happen). People seem to see his second video as, at least in some parts, sincere, whereas my bs senses tingled throughout. The only thing I would like to push back on is the supposed illiteracy of James' father being necessarily a lie. While my reaction after all the lies is an eye roll and a "of course he is", not all illiteracy is the same. There's true illiteracy (never learned to read) and functional illiteracy (you were taught reading and writing at some point, but it either never progressed beyond a very basic level or regressed to it). Wikipedia sums functional illiteracy up as reading and writing skills that are inadequate "to manage daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level". And it's not that uncommon, sadly. According to the same article on Wikipedia e.g., 85% of juvenile inmates in the US are functionally illiterate. So, is my first impulse to assume James is lying? Sure. Sure enough I might be tempted to bet on it. But there's a good chance, especially if his father wasn't a big reader to begin with, left school early enough to not learn to read anything more challenging, and then never had the chance or drive to learn further as an adult, he might very well be functionally illiterate and incapable of reading anything more challenging or complex than simple short sentences.
I had this exact same thought! A lot of his bullshit I can see a kernel of truth he bases it on. (the whole I got permission for evil queens shit). To me this is even more insidious and manipulative than making shit up whole cloth. The difference is that JS saying "my dad grew up in a rural place with an underfunded education and is functionally illiterate" doesn't gain the pity points, it's not as good of a story. This is true for the memory loss shit too, he could have actually had a head injury as a kid that has affected him as an adult, but as Dan points out the type of memory loss he describes sounds like fucking Memento. Same with the I can't work because epilepsy, he probably does have epilepsy, but he probably got fired for being a lazy uncreative shit. I think that's why Dan's word choice of "fabulist" is really on point. He's constantly iterating and fabulizing his own stories in order to divert blame and illicit sympathy. It's like he's playing telephone with himself
I think this (or at least some versions of it) needs to be posted because nobody else has gone in depth on the financials of this. This I think is something you are uniquely qualified to do. Not just because of your recent focus on financial grifts, but that in many ways James was pretending to claim to have the knowledge and experience that you actually do. You are a longtime video essayist and working fillmaker in Canada with extensive support on patreon. You can debunk a lot of his bullshit in ways no one else can. James was pretending to be the person you actually are. And, if this were turned into a scripted shorter video, it would fit right in on the channel. You've made videos on over confident and grossly incompetent filmmaking (book of Henry, The wall) and online financial cons (NFTs, Apes, Mikkelsen twins). James is both. One thing that I wanna point out though is that I wouldn't categorize James as a grifter in the conventional sense. He's not a Bernie Madoff. I think the truth is sadder. Like you said, He's a pathetic marketing nerd that liked the idea of being a filmmaker with none of the ability, curiosity, or care to actually be one. He's just Doug Walker with an A24 airbrush.
I agree with all but one point. As someone in the youtube comments said; He's not Doug, he's worse. Say what you will about his quality and ethics; at least Doug actually does the shit.
Watching this as I procrastinate my own editing, and that's simply one of the hardest cut to blacks I've seen in a while.
One of the things that has drawn me to the spectacle of the JS stuff is that... well we are in a world where frauds and liars operate and steal from people in broad daylight. And we're powerless to stop it. And this whole spectacle and those like it remind us that not only can it be done. But that it -should- be done as well. There's something very good in affirming that, yes, fraud is bad. And that yes, those who commit fraud should be called on it. This was a small but needed win for people who have been used by others. Because you are right, he will try and claw his way back to youtube. And he will be as slippery as he needs to be to do it. And that includes stealing from other people. This will not end here, regardless if you post this or not. Take your gloves off. Show him how people with drive and talent put in work.
Dan, I imagine that you'll have some hard decisions to make regarding whether or not to make this video public. Much like Harry I'm guessing that you don't want to make what you might consider a hit piece against one person and just, put it out there for the entire world to see. Considering all of that. I believe that this video, perhaps not in this distinct version, but in some way shape or form, should be available. James has never operated in good faith, and it seems like he may never be able to. A thorough, level-headed debunking of what he's saying in his latest effort to try and move on - once again without having to take responsibility - is something that I personally believe is necessary. Some people, certainly not a large portion but some, are going to give James the benefit of the doubt. They'll hear what he's saying and have an emotional reaction. Perhaps that's what he's counting on. Having something like this where you are just stopping and saying "you know, this doesn't make any sense", is invaluable. Of course, again I only speak for myself. You must do what you feel is right. But I sincerely hope that you will consider making this public.
I have truly appreciated your incredibly insightful comments on the HBomberguy sub (which, poor Harry, has inadvertently become a James Somerton sub :( at first it was kind of fun because I was very engaged in the JS situation myself but now I wish it would go back to being the very quiet sub it once was!), and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts here as well. No opinion on whether you should publish it or not, that's your business, but I just will always enjoy hearing your perspective on basically any topic. And in this case you are uniquely positioned to truly convey to us how full of shit this guy is. Thanks for this little tidbit, having a rough week and a lil bit of Folding Ideas as a treat was so nice!
I actually have the memory issues James claims to have, and like epilepsy it’s also not co-morbid with plagiarism. If you want to be anything like a functional adult, you learn to manage around it. I had to, like, have a list that would remind me when to eat and to not leave the house without keys. If you have no process to manage your memory (list! Reminders! Notes!), like James seems to claim, your life would fall apart. You’re going to be paying your 150 year old dad’s bills 3 times because you forgot you did it already and forgetting what year you were born. And it’s gross to see him use it as an excuse when I have worked so hard through that experience.
Idk I have ADHD and I'm constantly accidentally committing arson and starting harassment campaigns against people who spot it, maybe there's something there.
my grandfather grew up as one of eleven or twelve during the great depression in a west virginia mining town and as far as im aware, could read and write decently enough to function in modern society so im really confused as to how james' dad is completely unable to do both. i mean ill give some grace: perhaps he struggles with reading and writing, and had to leave school in his teens to start work. but as you mentioned, james could just say he needed to pick up slack and help his dad out after his mom died. that's a thing i think everyone on some level can relate to and sympathize with! the lie is both unbelievable and completely unnecessary.
This is especially, a lot of us are at that age where we’ve had to help our own parents out in their day to day beyond tech support, so it would make sense for James to say “here’s why I had to step away from one of the day to day aspects of the channel” but also, “i had to help my dad sort through my mom’s final expenses/get his own situations sorted” still doesn’t excuse blatant & longstanding plagiarism, so he needs to get an emotional reaction to get people to either nod along & not question or have the emotional reaction second guess their anger at him.
I hope the people who he plagiarized file copyright claims against his channel. It feels like three strikes are the only way to purge his channel and salt the earth because this morally bankrupt charlatan will never feel empathy for the people he wronged or leave voluntarily. Thanks for making and uploading this video, Dan!
Do ittttt, hit the public button. [I think you have a valuable perspective about the filmmaking process and did a very good job of demonstrating how to recognize and sanity-check this kind of series of self-serving stories]
Something I thought of when he brought up his “memory loss” as an excuse is that there is no way this could be an excuse WITHOUT showing his intent steal from the beginning. When he copied someone else’s work that contain personal input from the writers that in no way represents his own experiences because of his background, he would remove the personal indicators (like removing “in my experience” and replacing it with “the experience of people in this demographic”). He had to have done this at one of two times in the “writing” process: immediately after he pasted it, or, later down the line when he claims he “couldn’t remember what he or someone else wrote”. If he waited to remove the personal indications, then how the fuck did he not know he didn’t write it? However, for his “memory bad, lol” excuse to work, it means he had to remove the personal touches immediately, which I think proves intent to steal as wholesale as possible from the works. Why would to take change just those things the second you pasted if you were just taking notes? Either way, it cannot be an excuse. I can accept he had a head injury and had memory problems. That’s fine. But what he did wrong was KNOW he was just taking others work, and think it was fine to just go with what he had, even if he couldn’t remember what was his. If I set my wallet on a table next to someone else’s wallet that looks very similar to mine, but obviously isn’t mine, and I “accidentally” take both wallets, know before I walk out the door I have both, but decide it’s too much effort to figure out what one isn’t mine and return it, well, that’s stealing. Doesn’t matter if I meant to or not. I stole when I decided not to return what I claim was mistakenly take . That’s what James is trying to use an excuse. Except he would have taken the wallet home, spent the money in it, and still claimed he couldn’t have known it wasn’t his because of a brain injury, while multiple form of ID are staring at him proving it isn’t his. It just doesn’t work. He cannot see his own mistakes, even his accidents, so when he at least feels people are mad at him, he makes up wild scenarios that might be plausible and might apply to whatever they’re mad at, but it’s such an instinctual response he can’t see his lies don’t work. But he doesn’t know he does this, and therefore cannot change. He will steal from others again. He will spread misinformation again. We will lie for money again (because he is with this “measured response”). This whole thing bothers me so much because I’ve had people to this to me. One person even used MY traumatic experience as an excuse for him to not meet deadlines for his job, which he still has (he in reality, sent the week he was supposed to be working on the project watching the entire StarTrek franchise, including the new movies, I wasn’t even in the house that week). To see the same behavior in such a public setting that is doing major harm to several groups of people I fall under is hurtful to me, and ever person who still thinks it’s okay to support him will never deserve respect. I don’t wish harm on James, but he needs to leave the space, and find another where he can’t keep doing the harm (and hopefully actually become a better person). Also, his video name and the camera in the background were, uh, interesting choices.
"That's weird, I don't remember being an Asian transmasc trying to decide on a boy name, but I do have memory issues so who's to say it didn't happen!"
It's so transparent that James tells all of these stories of his parents, his grandparents, himself and his injuries, to garner any amount of sympathy in the hopes that maybe it'll be enough for people to not be mad at him anymore. It's just so childish to me and I'm very relieved that people generally see through it.
There's a saying about how plagiarism usually doesn't just happen once. The fact that he still gets so much support despite having been caught doing mass plagiarism? After the one-two punch of the hbomberguy and Todd in the Shadows videos, after everyone else that came out to call him out? He still gets so much support despite everything being in the daylight. So, I question just how much people actually see through his tactics.
I can't imagine how utterly maddening it must be to engage with someone like sommerton for any substantial length of time. I honestly have difficulty processing the sheer scale of dishonesty and fraud going on.
First, love Dan - great work from the past seasons of Foldable Human until now. That said, I don't know how many public death threat campaigns James has had, I only know two. And I just find it weird that he blames it on the fanbases of women. Again. Like it's weird. Maybe coincidental, but just odd that it comes back up.
I really appreciate this video. I have no interest in watching James' faux apologies, but I've seen a few too many comments along the lines of, “well he’s telling the truth and taking accountability now, what more can people ask for?” Ugh. Also, for those who want to reference specific sections, I made a lil chapter list: 00:08: Intro - James probably lied about his money situation in April 2023 (and still hasn’t addressed it) 1:51: Thesis - James Somerton is a fabulist 2:37: Lie From the Apology Video (LFAV) #1 - What’s Up With The Aspect Ratio? 2:49: LFAV #2 - Death Threats 4:46: LFAV #3 - Early On, He Thought Crediting Authors In the Opening Credits Alone Was Enough 5:36: LFAV #4 - He Got Permission From Sean Griffin 6:28: LFAV #5 - Epilepsy (Means He Can’t Do Any Job But YouTube???) 10:04: LFAV #6 - Dad Can’t Read (Please Believe This Sad Story with Bizarre Details and Feel Bad for James) 13:21: LFAV #7 - Brain Damage (Leading to Frankly Unbelievable Memory Problems) 20:03: Bonus - He Had to Scrap “The Listener” Because the Story Needed Summer But It Was Almost Winter (James raised $87,000 to make short films but has not bothered to learn a single thing about the practicalities of filmmaking)
Also, random thought. You often record in different locals for your bigger videos (in front of some NFT graffit or the Vegas strip) and this video looks like you are on the floor of some concrete bunker... would you consider doing some commentary shots in a really creepy location (perhaps an abandon building or some urban exploration site) in a future video? I dunno, maybe have the location featured during an equally unsettling aspect of whatever future topic you are covering?
The difficulty there might be the legality of being in that location, much less filming there to post for a mass public audience.
I think its important to keep this up and I would go further to say you should publish it to the channel even if it doesn't meet all your usual standards. You know about what it takes to produce a video and expert insight likes yours is essential to calling out and by extension preventing fraud like this in the future. You offer a unique and relevant perspective on this that feels separate from the din of drama around it. Thank you for sharing
Unlisted but available might be the best way - the people who want to know will find the link from others, but you don't create the same invitation to publicity and response. Also so stupid that he thinks illiteracy is some kind of flat binary and that it is believable that a man who ran a farm - a job that is largely logistics and organisation, would be completely flummoxed by basic paperwork. Lie better, damn it.
This video made me imagine the world where he succeeded, where he was able to leverage his platform and convince some production company to finance his feature. He has no idea what he's doing but either there's enough competent people around him that it comes out okay, or it comes out like garbage but he manages to squirm around it saying, oh the producers didn't believe in me because they're straight white women or whatever. Either way, doors open for him now, and he gets his next job over actually qualified people because at least he's directed a feature before and they've only done shorts, and then another, and then another. Also "my father couldn't read and that's why I plagiarized" is wonderfully original, if only he brought that kind of unique creative energy to his actual work
Not a fan of this one as a public video. Perhaps because I'm more into your heavily scripted stuff but this one doesn't fit the bill for your public content. I do feel this rebuttal of his terrible apology video is awesome, just not a public one. Also, while I haven't watched JS's new apology video I did notice it was 43 minutes long. Now, I don't know if your critique is enough to cover all time that but if you do decide you want to go and publish this, a second draft where you cover a better summary of his apology would be great. Something that does a decent job at laying out James's position before you tear into it. Then again, maybe JS drama isn't worth that much effort. Also the more casual format has been fun the past few videos.
I know this is technically a trashy drama video but I feel like a master chef just made me a damn good cheeseburger.
This seems like it was cathartic to record. It certainly felt cathartic to watch.
Hello, joined your patron because I saw someone else referencing this video in hbomb's server (and honestly, I've watched your videos so many times anyway, I might as well sign up). Me and a few other former fans of James's are doing a project annotating transcripts of every video he has, finding all the misinfo and plagiarism, etc. @ 14:25-14:55 you mention that you've never seen mention of his epilepsy before, even though he says he's mentioned it before. We all thought the same thing when we saw him mentioning it in his apology 2. But then I happened to search our transcript project and managed to find two times he mentioned having epilepsy prior to now in two patron-exclusive podcasts that I happened to have transcripts for. I will post links to these in a reply (in case there's some link-blocking I'm unaware of that would block my comment.) So, for this one particular instance (that is, saying he talked about it before), we actually can prove James did *not* lie about something. I was shocked too, frankly.
Transcript links, linking directly to the lines: https://github.com/tustin2121/James_Somerton_Transcripts/blob/main/Archive/vtt/2022-05-24_RJMByOx9ey8_Podreon-Ep-6-BURN-OUT.mp4.en.vtt#L1295 https://github.com/tustin2121/James_Somerton_Transcripts/blob/main/Archive/vtt/2022-06-13_KSVdngCloP0_Podreon-Ep-9-Memories-of-Me.mp4.en.vtt#L1500 Both videos are up on archive.org if anyone would rather listen: https://archive.org/details/james-somerton-public-records/Podreon+Podcast/Podreon+Ep.+6+-+BURN+OUT!.mp4 https://archive.org/details/james-somerton-public-records/Podreon+Podcast/Podreon+Ep.+9+-+Memories+of+Me.mp4
To echo some other comments, it's so wild to me that there are actual factual problems with the Canadian education system, particularly in Atlantic Canada, which can be identified by lower than desirable literacy rates in adults. There are quite a number of adults in Nova Scotia that have such low literacy skills that it impacts their daily life. It's so easy to just google it if you're going to tell a lie about why your dad can't read or whatever and that's why you did so much plagiarism. Even that effort is too much! The mind boggles!
The whole "I couldn't remember what I stole" is just such a transparent lie that I can't fathom going with that story. Like, lying about having TBI, yeah that sounds like something James would do (I am not accusing him of that, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was). Part of his excuse in this video, is that he intentionally went looking for the perspectives of others who had experiences he did not. So wouldn't it jump off the page at you if part of your script didn't align with your personal life experiences?!? Is James earnestly expecting me to believe he "forgot" he is a cis white dude? Like, even if you take all of this at face value, did he seriously look at the script for Evil Queens and never say "Huh, there's a bunch of stuff in here about being a trans man. I am not a trans man. This must be one of those things I googled and forgot about!". Like, even if you couldn't remember where you got it from Google does!! They sold it to 73 marketing firms this week, but they'll even let you access it for free!
I like that you're not giving him any benefit of the doubt. He has lost any presumption of good will. The Boy Who Cried Wolf is not a cautionary tale for the town that stops listening to the boy.
If he had just said his dad can't read *anymore because his eyesight degraded with age* that'd be a lot more believable. This dude can't even lie *competently* it's stunning.
Or even “my dad struggles with understanding legalese” or “my dad was falling apart with grief and couldn’t handle all the admin” or even like Dan says he literally never had to justify taking on the bureaucracy because that is a common thing adult children do to help their grieving parent! He’s adding lies he doesn’t even have to, it’s like he can’t help himself
Thanks for the video. I really enjoy your analysis and explanations, even when the subject is totally new to me. Like this one. Keep up the good work!
I appreciate this video. It gives excellent analysis of what JS said, and I don't have to actually watch his apology video.
It's a toughie. Obv it's wading into a drama discourse and will unavoidably carry some of that taint with it. FWIW it was very helpful to me, as someone predisposed to be overly generous and forgiving, to have a calm and well informed voice call bullshit. Having said that, it's not as if this changes my mind, just entrenches my position. Maybe others more directly affected will be helped by the validation it offers, tho? But it's a trashfire and deciding to keep away is entirely understandable and possibly even wise.
I personally think you shouldn't publish this. Your insight is valuable but the whole JS situation is already so overblown and over-covered. People who subscribe or resubscribe to him will not be swayed by some background knowledge about cameras or media work. I assume you are sharing your thoughts with those that matter to you, and I think that should be it. Why feed this further.
“New FI video.” “Oh shit. What’s it about?” “James Somerton.” “Oh phew. Finally.” *resumes daytrading
Much as youtube drama sucks, I would encourage you to publish. To the very online people Somerton is done, but he's still a good manipulator (see tugging at heartstrings with injuries and family issues), and he helps new marks to have a methodical "nope, factually still lying" breakdown as a counterpoint to the sob story. That said, also fully understand not wanting to keep engaging with this garbage. It was instructive to me at least, I'll say that :)
I'm taking notes on how long it's going to take before JS makes a right wing pivot as "the white gay man who was hounded by the libs"
Dan please publish this. A lot of people are not involved enough in filmmaking or marketing to understand that he is making blatant excuses. Additionally, many people are going to just grant him forgiveness and allow this guy to begin profiting again from plagiarized work.
Personally, I think keeping this one on Patreon is probably the best call. I think Somerton's credibility is already ruined, and the people who would have bought this current apology won't be turned away by MORE evidence that he's a liar. At this point, I would worry posting this publicly on the channel would risk just seeming like a drama youtuber, and just hurting your own credibility by seeming petty.
That James Somerton video is DEEPLY offensive to me for two personal reasons: My sister is ACTUALLY epileptic and works in food services in a kitchen! In a hospital! In Ontario! Being epileptic doesn't necessarily restrict you from work. The only job my sister has considered having that she could not do was being an aircraft pilot. My father has dyslexia and fell through the cracks of the Ontario public school system. He didn't learn to read until he was in high school. Despite this, he has traveled the world and owns his own small business. Under absolutely no circumstances would it be justifiable to do crimes and blame them on my father's dyslexia or past illiteracy. Even the thought of it is horrifying to me. The whole apology video is monstrous.
I came down to the comments to mention, because I have met someone who went through the Canadian school system but couldn't read or write, and I was a little worried about the generalized case
I could kiiiiiind of see a kid in the 50s/60s dropping out of school really young to work full time if their family owned a farm, but even then you'd still learn to read and write and do basic math just because running a family farm involves a lot of business and bookkeeping skills, not just physical labor.
This was my “let’s be generous in that James isn’t just outright lying” regarding the dropping out at a young age, aside from family farm where you’re trained by your parents/siblings, what job is gonna hire a kid who can’t do probably one of the most basic required functions of any job beyond general labor.
Watching your description of James Somerton at the end was hard as I felt I was being called out myself. I fantasise weekly, sometimes daily, of being a youtuber, of being friends with breadtubers, of being respected and acclaimed as an artist, but I'm fundamentally not talented in the ways necessary and not disciplined enough to make these things happen. So instead, I just don't do it, and I do the things I'm good at and enjoy doing instead. It makes me sad to see James deluding himself. I'm sure he is good at something, probably many things. I hope he leans into his true skills and desires and stops chasing something that's never going to happen. He's lying to himself as much as everyone else.
I’m a procrastinator too & ultimately the thing to get over that James couldn’t was that as Dan mentioned, if you have to wait for things to be “perfect” you’ll never start. It’s better to make something even if it “sucks” in the sense that it doesn’t look like a “professional vid” atleast then it will be done.
Good to see Dan took shelter in his bunker to save the world from his rage from dealing with more JS nonsense. I do love this new series of Dan lounging in questionable spaces musing about the absurd.
Yeah you should definitely post this. It's worth it
Honestly, I think that this is the level-headed, direct analysis of the apology we need. No one wants to support him, but a lot of people are giving the benefit of the doubt regardless. You remove all desires to do so and I appreciate that, and your knowledge specifically on filmmaking just adds to that.
Whatever credibility James had left disintegrated after his first failed apology. I don't believe a word James Somerton says. I don't think he was ever threatened. I don't think he tried to take his own life. I really don't believe any of his excuses about the plagiarism. And to cap it all off, I don't think he's sorry for any of it. Somerton is just hurt because his money making scheme is now defunct, and any action he takes from here on out is going to be an attempt to start scamming people again because that's all he knows how to do.
This deserves to be public - a lot of important stuff that's relevant for way more than just Somerton drama
I actually wrote to Patreon regarding his account. I wanted to report it for fraud, but the reporting thing does not have a mechanism to report an account for possible scamming or fraud. Got an email back from their Trust & Safety that they are investigating it. Hopefully they will think twice about letting him re-launch his account.
What’s the over/under James uploads another apology vid where he claims he never plagiarized, his videos just did that? Edit: just got to the Listener section & my college digital media PTSD flashed right back, and you spiritually answered the question I had of: “does James think movies are filmed in chronological order or something? I get no one wants to shelve a project for too long, but you can shoot what you need & come back later to the parts you need to complete”
Just want to say thank you for posting this, even if you never put it on YouTube. But you SHOULD put it on YouTube. I was one of the people James scammed by claiming he needed more Patreon money. It wasnt a lot of money but it still mankes me so angry that I was lied to on that level.The information you and Harry have shared make a huge difference for people like myself who wouldn't know the details about different cameras, the personal experience about working as a filmmaker, or even the basics like the plagiarism accusations. I was a patron for a few months and i had no idea he's been accused of stealing until the H Bomberguy video. Your work shedding light on these things are *important.* Thank you Dan
Omg, the best part for me is that the character on his hat means "enlightenment" or "to perceive". This is amazing
I haven’t finished watching this yet, but rewatching the first “plea” video is especially enraging now, watching him try to squirm back to doing video essays/patreon. It looked so untenable when he made that video but now he’s trying so hard to get back into the business after harming so many
After watching the video.... ASSUMING EVERYTHING HE SAID IS TRUE, he has NO BUSINESS doing media analysis. If you can't remember your words on a script.....how the hell are you going to do analysis of movies or 8-20 hour tv series???
I cannot stand to hear JS speak Everything about him is fabricated, not even carefully or thoughtfully Two quick thoughts I had Aspect ratio off: he was trying to look thin My aunt worked for Canada Post for decades w serious epilepsy, he’s just lazy As we already knew, I guess
UPDATE: I just finished this video, writing this quick before a work meeting. Dan, *if you have the emotional capacity to publicly wade back into this quagmire,* I think this video would be an *extremely valuable* to post publicly. Your unique insight into film industry practices, Canadian disability law, and just basic scheduling logistics are uniquely useful for this specific scandal. I know from listening to The Ace Couple pod that your Tweet thread on the camera purchases was very validating to them, helped them feel less gaslit. I imagine this video would be similarly helpful, even empowering. But again, *only if you have the emotional capacity,* that always comes first. ORIGINAL:L I have been rage re-watching the hbomberguy, Todd In The Shadows, and The Ace Couple bombshells since watching Jessie Gender's reaction yesterday. And just. The AUDACITY of that man. As a queer woman, it breaks my heart how much damage he has done, especially to young & baby gays. So I appreciate any and every reminder that he should not be trusted again.