50,000 signatures petition against Sam Pepper over viral kidnap and murder prank
YouTube star Sam Pepper released a prank video yesterday on the video-sharing website titled, "killing best friend" causing "distress" amongst viewers with over 743,000 dislikes on YouTube after breaking two of its community guidelines.
Brunel student, Kaylee-Jade Davis from Uxbridge, West London who created the petition on Change.org is "disgusted" that the video is still on the site and believes YouTubers’ have a certain responsibility to maintain.
She added, “Faking murder is not a prank. Especially when people are being murdered in a similar style everyday.”
The five-minute video shows a boy and his best friend getting kidnapped and thrown in a boot of a car who are then restraint to a chair and led to believe his friend is shot and killed.
Avid online user, Danica Seguros, from West Kensington, Chelsea says the video is sending out the wrong ideas amid recent events.
"This is not the kind of culture and message he should be sending to his viewers, this is wrong. Sam Pepper needs to re-evaluate his content and think better next time."
Beauty and Fashion Youtube sensation Gracie Francesca better known as “UglyFaceOfBeauty” shared the petition via Twitter to take down the star's YouTube channel.
Vine star, Sam Golbach, targeted in the prank (below) took to Twitter to clarify what happened after facing ‘backlash’ on the micro-blogging website.
“I’m not traumatized… Instead it was a video to show true friendship”.
We have contacted YouTube and are yet to hear anything back regarding the video.
Watch the video here:
(Beware, some scenes may cause distress to viewers)
Sam Pepper has since taken down the explicit video in an apology video.
What are your thoughts? Share them on Twitter with the hashtag #SamPepperPrank
Link to the petition below: