Sam Pepper is asking his fans for a second chance.
After purging his entire social media presence this week, Pepper returned today with a blurry, 20-minute video in which he says he’ll be “real, honest, and 100 percent” himself. In it, he explains that he eventually filled his prank channel with completely faked videos in an attempt to keep himself relevant with the exploding scene of YouTube pranksters.
“What I wasn’t thinking this whole time is if I have to fake a video, then that means it’s too crazy for me to do for real,” said Pepper. He said this includes the butt-pinching video which started the public outcry against Pepper.
“Everything moves with a trend,” Pepper says. “You don’t wear clothes that were in fashion three years ago; you wear current things. That’s the same with my YouTube channel. I wanted to get views; I wanted to get money. It’s my job.”
Pepper said he followed those trends, and decided to make up what he called a “bullshit story” about him doing a social experiment. He also denies the rape allegations against him and explains the logic that led him to doing the “murder prank” that put him back into the spotlight in the fall, emphasizing that the video was also a fake and an attempt to get views.
“I’m putting forward the wrong image of myself. I’m putting forward a character I’ve created that doesn’t give a fuck,” said Pepper. “I’m not thinking about that; I’m thinking about the views. It’s stupid.”
Pepper also called in to YouTube channel DramaAlert to elaborate in an additional 17-minute clip. DramaAlert host Daniel Keem said he researched the rape allegations against Pepper with the LAPD and found there was no proof in the claims. Keem previously published videos supportive of Pepper.
Response to Pepper’s news is mixed on social media, with some coming out in support of him and calling for the community to give him a second chance, while others aren't so forgiving.
In the end of the video on his channel, Pepper asks his 2.3 million viewers for a second chance.
“I’ll prove to you that I can make content that represents me as a person,” he said, claiming that he’ll only be repopulating his channel with videos that make him proud.
“I’ve been an idiot,” he says. “I want to change my content. Honestly from the depths of my heart, I want to do this as my job but I want to do this right.”
Screengrab via Sam Pepper/YouTube