Popular YouTuber Adrian Gee’s “social experiment” video ‘The Real Blind Man Honesty Test’ went viral over a week ago, attracting over 2 million views on YouTube and countless shares on social media. The video ostensibly showed Adrian pretending to be blind whilst asking “passers by” if they have change for a $5 dollar note, though he’s actually shown to be holding up a $50 note instead. The video shows some of the people he confronts pointing out his mistake, but many more appear to simply take his $50 without telling him, effectively “robbing” him in the process.
However, Australian news station Today Tonight Adelaide exposed the truth behind the video, which was that the individuals he confronted were actually paid actors, with some of them not having been informed that they were actually taking part in a “social experiment” video in which their reactions would be portrayed as real. After the interviewer calls Adrian Gee and his producer out on their lies, they refute the evidence against them, claiming that they did not know the people involved were actors. Watch the video below:
WATCH NOW: In the past week, Adrian Gee has conned over two million people with his ‘honesty test’. We expose just how...
Posted by Today Tonight Adelaide on Monday, 16 November 2015
In terms of scandals, a YouTuber specializing in social experiment/prank videos being called out as being a fake isn't exactly earth-shattering. It would be easy to deduce that the majority of videos such as Adrian Gee's are conducted by dishonest people, and I've previously noted how many YouTubers producing these types of videos are effectively making a living out of being abhorrent. However, it's important to highlight the toxic influence these individuals could be having on YouTube's key demographic, which largely consists of viewers who are teenagers or younger.
Adrian Gee recorded a Periscope chat following his appearance on Today Tonight Adelaide, broadcasting to his thousands of followers in a live stream titled 'The real truth behind the "blind man exposure."' In the video, Gee admits that his social experiment videos feature actors (though his producer, who sits alongside him for the duration of the stream, first claims that this is not the case - they had clearly not corroborated their stories prior to the video chat - before laughing "I'm still going with the lie"), though insists that all his pranks are "real."
Pranks such as this one, where he forces himself upon a woman in a public library:
Adrian Gee is but a drop in a shit-filled bucket when it comes to morally bankrupt YouTubers, though hopefully his exposure as a fraud will cause many to not take "social experiment" videos such as his at face value, and prevent repugnant individuals such as this guy from attaining the fame they're tirelessly in search of.
