YouTuber Sam Pepper Took Crypto Too Far: Banned From Pump.Fun For Firework Accident
BY
Ben Graham
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Sam Pepper, a British content creator, known for livestreaming and crypto-related stunts has been banned from Pump.fun and the livestreaming platform, Kick after a dangerous incident during a live broadcast in New Delhi, India.
While celebrating Diwali, Pepper and his friends were shooting fireworks at each other in the street, with some locals joining in. Things took a serious turn when one of the fireworks that Pepper launched, hit a girl directly in the face.
At first, Pepper reacted with excitement, shouting “Oh my God” and raising his fist, while someone nearby joked “Headshot.” But the mood quickly changed when it became clear that the girl was hurt. A motorbike took her to a nearby hospital.
Pepper later told a publication that the firework had cut the girl just above the eyebrow and that medical personnel gave her a butterfly stitch before they released her.
During the livestream, a local claimed that he’d heard the girl might have lost her eye, though he wasn’t sure if it was true. However, later Pepper clarified that the girl’s vision is fine.
The publication quoted Pepper saying, “I had a friend go and make sure they were okay, and called the family. And [I] apologized and made sure to give them some compensation for the situation and the hospital fees.”
“I feel extremely bad about this situation, and will [in] no way be playing with fireworks again,” he added.
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Sam Pepper’s Memecoin “NERVE” On Pump.fun Tanks After Firework Stunt Goes Viral
According to the publication, Pepper had initially received a temporary ban along with a formal warning. However, Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen said that the platform fully banned Pepper’s account following the incident and that the team only “implemented” the ban a couple of hours later.
As the firework stunt went viral across the crypto space, his memecoin “Nerve”, which was launched on
Solana
SOL
$184.78
0.81%
Solana
SOL
Price
$184.78
0.81% /24h
Volume in 24h
$8.98B
Price 7d
through Pump.fun took a hit. DEX Screener data shows that its market value dropped nearly 16% in 24 hours, reaching $148,000.
(Source: DEX Screener)
This isn’t Pepper’s first controversy. Back in 2014, the BBC reported that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) was investigating him after he posted a YouTube video titled “Fake Hand Ass Pinch Prank,” where he touched several women inappropriately.
He later posted a similar video involving men. Pepper claimed then that the videos were part of a social experiment to highlight sexual harassment against men. Meanwhile, the LAPD said they didn’t pursue the case due to a lack of cooperation from the victims.
Also, in 2015, Pepper staged another video where he pretended to kidnap a friend and fake the shooting of another friend in front of him. Many viewers found the video disturbing and launched a petition to remove the video.
However, the person involved, defended the video in a now-deleted X post saying he was “honestly not mad.”
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Crypto Stunts And The Rise Of Reckless Promotion
This incident has reignited debates around the growing trend of crypto influencers using dangerous stunts, often at the expense of other to promote meme coins. Platforms like Pump.fun allow users to launch tokens with minimal oversight and streamers often use shock value to drive trading volume.
While this can lead to virality, it also raises serious questions about accountability and safety.
Pepper’s firework stunt isn’t the first time someone has gotten hurt while trying to promote a memecoin on Pump.fun.
For instance, last year, a Solana dev from Florida tried to boost attention for his “DARE” token, by covering himself in rubbing alcohol and letting his friends shoot fireworks at him. Of course, the stunt went horribly wrong and paramedics rushed him to the hospital with third degree burns all over his body.
While the price of his memecoin went up, the injury prevented the man from cashing in and eventually caused him to step away from the project
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Key Takeaways
The post YouTuber Sam Pepper Took Crypto Too Far: Banned From Pump.Fun For Firework Accident appeared first on 99Bitcoins.