KrisPOddCast #12 - The James Somerton Scandal
Added 2023-12-06 22:40:43 +0000 UTCI explain all this at the top of the video but I felt a need to speak on everything going on with youtuber James Somerton to all of you primarily because of our audiences notably having overlap for at least the past years. The two main videos about his plagiarism and misinformation are linked below and while in this podcast i summarize the situation i HIGHLY recommend you watch those theatrical length MP4s first if you havent already because they give the entire context in detail and i only really give brief summaries of various events not that well. I mulled over addressing this at the beginning of the week because i do have things to say but dont feel the need to make a spectacle out of it more than the rest of the internet already is so i decided privately here on patreon in a podcast was the best approach - plus i havent done a KPOD in a LONG while so why not give yall an early xmas gift? lmao. sorry, no segment times, this ones kinda all over the place.
TLDR: fuck that turtleneck wearing slug and id be very intrigued to hear any of yalls opinions on everything either as someone who liked his content, actively didnt (i know theres quite a few of you) or have never even heard of this grifter.
Sources Mentioned:
- Hbomberguy Video (starts at 1:49:59): https://youtu.be/yDp3cB5fHXQ?si=NMQb-kSgFPT4tHlY
- Todd In The Shadows Video: https://youtu.be/A6_LW1PkmnY?si=ZufgPeXQTuhKfH99
- James & Nick's Podcast: https://thousandtinytantrums.podbean.com/e/episode-10-anime/
- James's Blog: https://www.jamessomerton.com/blog/my-adventures-in-anime
Images Mentioned:
**Monday Was A Wild Day For Anime**
B-Project:
Kawagoe Boys Sing:
Comments
its a disaster that gets new updates monthly unfortunately. I wish people would stop giving this guy any attention at all at this point
KrisPNatz
2024-03-13 17:32:36 +0000 UTCI never heard of this guy I may have watched his videos on accident not knowing who he is, and Nick not liking child prodigy because he is 😒 projecting.
Veda Rose
2024-02-26 20:21:13 +0000 UTCThis is wild 💀
Veda Rose
2024-02-26 20:18:45 +0000 UTCWELCOMMEEEEE and yeah I feel you I’m the same with other creators I’ve supported myself. Even when I’ve begged for money for a godundme many years back I felt GROSS doing it even tho it was for my own livelihood so the idea of people doing that and LYING is just baffling to me
KrisPNatz
2024-01-05 07:31:35 +0000 UTCNew Patreon here (hello). I’ve never heard of this guy before but good riddance to this guy. I’m a Danny Motta viewer, but I’m not a Patreon of his. I’m extremely picky of who I subscribe to on Patreon. Other than you, I’m only a Patreon of 3 other YouTubers and they are no name Booktubers. I have to REALLY like the person’s personality and content to become a Patreon of theirs. This whole situation with this guy is a good reminder to always be critical when people openly beg for money. Also Nick’s hang ups with some anime really concerning. He’s insecurities are insanely bad. I hope he gets therapy or finds a way to heal through his insecurities.
Momo
2024-01-04 21:30:57 +0000 UTCFACTS AND BETTER LATE THAN NEVER XD It almost feels like an appropriation of sapphics’ struggles and a total ignorance to sexism existing at all to act like BL being consumed by “straight women” is somehow “the same kind of negative objectification” when queer women’s identity is often seen as a phase or a welcome sexual history that maintains a woman’s “purity” for her inevitable coupling with a man (and a source of titillation for him only ie MFF threesomes as a potential proposal). A guy being just ASSUMED to have been with another guy romantically let alone kissed or had sex with is a taboo a straight man (or closeted rainbro) will never be able to socially recover from in a homophobic society so more straight people being into the idea of dudes being with other dudes is progress even if it’s nothing typically groundbreaking like some bills being passed on capitol hill. I don’t get people screaming for representation then telling people they can’t support representation like the contradiction is exhausting lmao
KrisPNatz
2023-12-24 00:43:47 +0000 UTCLooking forward to the fujo Feb vid! Misogynists show their hand when they never have the same energy for straight men who watch “lesbian” porn. What matters is if you use fantasy as an excuse for treating real people poorly, and thats on the person not the media. There’s nothing fetishizing about enjoying content of hot people getting together. It’s just toxic anytime people gate keep the creation or enjoyment of queer media. You can see it all the time when queer actors or writers are forced to come out and prove their sexuality. There is something to be said about tropes and patterns in media reinforcing bad cultural ideas, but it’s complex and usually has more to do with the culture than an individual piece of media. Anyway, late to the party but fuck James Somerton lol
Alexandra Wilson
2023-12-23 16:38:24 +0000 UTCexactly and it turns out his basic ass takes arent even his own LMAO
KrisPNatz
2023-12-18 03:55:24 +0000 UTCI never heard of this guy before this podcast episode came out XD Oh wait - I think I've klicked on one of his videos before and thought this is boring old takes and I don't care. He also covers shows and themes that everyone covers and that are super mainstream. I don't need to hear some pretentious ass dudes takes om juri on ice. remember continuing my read of killing stalking because the puriteens complained about it so I was interested XD
Flynnit
2023-12-12 00:29:42 +0000 UTCyea he clearly baited a whole buncha people with lies of inclusivity, it even sounds like his direct interaction with his audience on patreon with watch alongs and movie nights was probably a big way to gain trust more directly in spite of the lies and fallacies he was spouting. The scale of the grift is CRAZY and apparently hes even lied about his education LMAO
KrisPNatz
2023-12-11 07:33:09 +0000 UTCThis shit was WILD. I was a subscriber, but not a patron. Mostly because I'm broke so I don't give money to people with that much clout. I want to put my little old dollar somewhere it might make a difference for someone. That whole Telos thing never passed the sniff test for me. But, as an ace person, I fell for the pandering of actually being recognized as real and did enjoy some of his content.
StressedbutTrying
2023-12-09 20:37:14 +0000 UTCyea like i fully dont fuck with james's stances and absolutely condemn the plagiarism and misinformation and etc but in the back of my mind when shit like this blows up i always have to try to think about what straight creators get this kind of pushback from audiences to this scale even if it is warranted. Not so much from the audiences familiar with them but the outsiders who are only introduced to them from these scandals who wouldnt pay attention to them otherwise. Literally that fuckin indiegogo third act had me like "NO... IT GETS WORSE??!!?!?!!?! HOW??!?!?!!" LMFAOOOOOO
KrisPNatz
2023-12-09 18:14:05 +0000 UTCI’m def one of those Danny Motta viewers LMAO but there is a conversation needed to be had about the state of anitubers that talk about queer media and just how inherently polarizing that role itself is. I’m always shocked by just how adamant these particular types did anitubers are about their moral and constantly defining what lane can and can’t be crossed meanwhile creators such as the Trash Taste guys don’t even have to address all of the problematic stuff they encounter. So I’m disappointed but not surprised about James Somerton’s conclusion in plagiarizing because there is so much more of a target on your back. But that fundraising shit was WILD ngl💀
namdrea
2023-12-09 03:08:34 +0000 UTCNahhhh you’re not an idiot, he scammed a lot of people, y’all just were doing things out of good intentions for someone who was just flat out lying there was no way to truly know.
KrisPNatz
2023-12-08 05:47:01 +0000 UTCOmgggg I wondered if you'd talk about this! So I've been subbed to hbomb for like six years and I love him and he's not a drama channel. I've been subbed to James for like two years and just watched his videos in the background a lot so even tho I disagreed with some of his takes and noticed the anti women writing gay men stuff I was like eh, that's an opinion. But I was totally blindsided by all of the plagiarism, his mislabeling queer authors as straight or afab trans people as women, the drama and bullshit he did on Twitter and in his livestreams etc. I just totally missed all of that and I'm really annoyed that I gave that guy my attention and briefly was a low tier patron bc of his whole "woe is me I'm broke" video bc I'm an idiot.
Slime E. Bugz
2023-12-07 12:39:24 +0000 UTCYES I WAS i stay forgetting that title LMAO i mean you had no reason to know it was stolen, nobody did, even tho i knew i didnt fuck with what he was selling the plagiarism and the scope was still shocking to me, yall had no reason to think otherwise. Also thank you but i get it wrong more often than not lmao i myself can only hope to entertain XD
KrisPNatz
2023-12-07 05:39:26 +0000 UTCyou're thinking about "my devil's a part-timer"! but i will say that i feel both stupid for getting caught up in his stolen content, thinking it's original, and the anti-fujo shit being missed. he has that kind of voice where, unless you pay attention, then you're gonna miss it. i liked using video essays in general to use in the background while i write or playing a game or whatever. but honestly, i love listening to you, kris, i'm glad im throwing my money towards someone who actually knows wtf they're talking about and has a good time about it. edit; for the record, i didn't bully anyone. anytime i'd see him say someone "bully" him, i'd be like "that's too bad" and go back to my job. kldasjfklsdjf i *did* feel bad for him at the time of my sub to his patreon but i just ... goddammit, i just wanted to be entertained.
Lily
2023-12-07 03:32:23 +0000 UTCoh i hadnt heard about jenny nicholson calling him out too thats wild considering how big she is. You definitely shouldnt feel like an idiot nobody had any way of knowing, its not like there was any incentive to know something was super off cause unfortunately these days a lot of the "light" misogyny sprinkled in among points relating to supporting the queer and other marginalized experiences is a common talking point to (as the videos mention) mask one's misogyny under the guise of it being against an oppressive group.
KrisPNatz
2023-12-07 03:18:32 +0000 UTCI’ve been a fan of video essays for years, especially about queer anime and manga so one of his bl videos caught my eye and I watched some of his stuff. I am a younger queer individual, so I watched his videos because he covered queer media and history but I only watched a couple of his videos before getting bored. Afterwards, he just was in my subs page for like 2 years. I didn’t watch enough to catch his blatant misogyny and many controversies. He was called out by Jenny Nicholson apparently which I somehow completely missed (I am a fan of hers). When the news came out, I was like oh shit. I feel kinda like an idiot for not noticing his red flags but yeah overall I hope the queer ppl he plagiarized get the recognition they deserve.
Mighty
2023-12-07 01:36:49 +0000 UTCLMAO LIKE I NEEDED ANOTHER REASON TO HATE THEM XD yea that simple switch is so damn telling its disgusting
KrisPNatz
2023-12-07 01:11:13 +0000 UTCyeah theres a weird desperate desire for people to be the first to information no matter how wrong it is. also just battle shonen content and discourse is THEE most misinformation filled fandom on the internet by far its not even funny lmao
KrisPNatz
2023-12-07 01:09:36 +0000 UTCLmao I saw the hbomberguy video and found it interesting the only time James showed real emotion in the clips shown was when he shows his misogyny. No wonder he's a fujo hater too. I've only ever seen one of James Somerton's videos and it was years ago and I don't remember what it was about. He just came across as super boring and did not seem like he watched the shit he talked about. The vibes were OFF from the start. Not the Ultras meme tho LMAOOO.
Bobarisu
2023-12-07 01:03:13 +0000 UTCThe citing sources just reminds me of all the dragon ball people who wanna be first saying it’s back. Any person who does photos with bottom text about anything really. Recently people wanted to be first about jujutsu kaisen stopping due to the mappa drama and look nothing has come of it.
Soul
2023-12-07 00:56:32 +0000 UTC
![[チーム]アップルパイ](https://xaiju.com/istorage/54636.jpg)
