What's Up With Hbomberguy Setting Off A YouTube Plagiarism Scandal? The Internet Historian And James Somerton Controversies Explained

Hbomberguy is a YouTuber best known for lengthy videos in which he often launches into diatribes against specific video games or controversial right-wing grifters online. In recent years, he has garnered a solid following of subscribers who eagerly look forward to his extensively researched and exhaustive videos, even if they take several months (and in this case, nearly a year) to make.

His newest upload has caused a stir online among fans of well-known content creators Internet Historian and James Somerton, two YouTubers who couldn't be more different in terms of their content, but who found common ground in Hbomberguy alleging that they had engaged in various forms of plagiarism in their YouTube careers.

Here's a recap of what went down and why the video is raising such a ruckus across social media right now.

What Was Hbomberguy's Video About?

On December 2nd, 2023, YouTuber Hbomberguy posted a video titled, "Plagiarism and You(Tube)." The video used various YouTubers as a case study to discuss plagiarism on the platform, including a section on how video game reviewer and gaming content creator Luke Stephens ripped off smaller creators, and how video essayist Illuminaughti repackaged Brian Deer's anti-vax journalism without giving adequate credit.

As the nearly four-hour-long video continues, additional YouTubers are discussed, two of whom have become the primary focus of much discourse regarding the subsequent controversies stemming from it.

What Are The Plagiarism Accusations Against Internet Historian?

Hbomberguy's video briefly focused on a video posted by Internet Historian in mid-2023, titled "Man In Cave," which followed the tale of how a group of people saved Kentucky cave explorer Floyd Collins in a massive rescue operation in 1925. The video had grown immensely popular on YouTube soon after it was published but was then taken down for reasons unknown to many of Internet Historian's fans.

According to Hbomberguy, Internet Historian had copied the script for the video word for word from a 2018 article posted to Mental Floss by Lucas Reilley, without getting prior permission (which supposedly led to it being taken down and reuploaded sometime around May).

Despite the animation and voice-overs from Internet Historian and his team, and their efforts to clean up and rephrase the video before they reuploaded it, Hbomberguy determined that the instance was a classic case of bald-faced plagiarism.

While some people welcomed a takedown of Internet Historian as the video spread in recent days, others criticized Hbomberguy for supposedly harboring an agenda or vendetta against him as debates and arguments emerged.

What Are The Plagiarism Accusations Against James Somerton?

Hbomberguy's video was largely focussed on James Somerton, citing the YouTuber's extensive history of misattributing or inadequately citing other queer theorists' work and passing them off as his own thoughts. Somerton was the subject of nearly two hours of the video's four-hour runtime (seen below).

Hbomberguy's central thesis in criticizing Somerton was that his focus on LGBTQ+ analysis was often stolen from other queer writers, with no due credit given. As a creator who claims to be trying to relay the untold or under-discussed side of popular media, the video alleges that Somerton inadvertently contributed to the muffling of queer writers and thinkers, instead choosing to pass off their ideas as his own.

Somerton's fans appeared, for the most part, devastated, while the YouTuber himself chose to delete his Twitter / X account and his Patreon after issuing an apology.

But curiously enough, Somerton did not immediately delete his YouTube or take down the videos accused of plagiarism. Instead, he chose to simply turn off his comments, and hide from his fans.

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For the full history of Hbomberguy vs. James Somerton and the Internet Historian Plagiarism Accusations, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entries here and here for more information.