Sam Hyde vs. iDubbbz

Overview

Sam Hyde vs. iDubbbz refers to a viral video posted on the HydeWars YouTube channel by internet personality Sam Hyde in which he shows footage gathered from a reverse psyop against YouTuber iDubbbz, which took place during 2021. The footage, as well as released supporting documentation, gives a glimpse at a much larger event that is still shrouded in mystery.

Origin

On January 8th, 2022, the HydeWars official YouTube^[1] channel posted a video titled "The Truth About iDubbbz" that totaled close to two hours in length, gaining over one million views in six days (shown below).

The video starts off with Hyde giving context about what happened before, during and after the footage was shot, and then proceeds to watch it and rarely pause to give additional context and insight. The main point of the video itself was that iDubbbz had reached out and wanted to film Sam Hyde, presumably to get footage of him for another Content Cop video about how Sam Hyde fell off. Hyde, allegedly knowing this was his intent, decided to create an overwhelmingly uncomfortable and at times hostile environment for iDubbbz, which was detailed in a Google document known as "The Blueprint for Gaslighting iDubbbz" that was later posted to Twitter^[2] by user @JoKaiGonZo, earning 6,000 likes in four days (shown below).

After five days of iDubbbz filming them and their shenanigans, he left Maine, and contact between iDubbbz and Hyde is spare, with Hyde realizing that iDubbbz does not intend to release his documentary as initially planned (though no reason or indication why was made). Due to the weeks of planning that went into it, as well as them spending a reported $15,000 of their own money, Hyde and the team decided to release what small amount of footage and audio they had.

The Blueprint

The Blueprint, as described by Sam Hyde in the video, consisted of mostly suggestions and ideas that they planned and spent money on. Going down the Blueprint in the video, Sam Hyde gives additional context for items off the list, such as showing iDubbbz Pokemon cards and pretending like it's a new form of crypto or having the security guard, Weckful, give iDubbbz a pat-down claiming they were cyber attacked earlier in the day. The list goes on with multiple outlandish things resembling sketch comedy, although a few were actually played out. The list was later either recreated or leaked online without a name attached to who did it (link to the document).

Online Reaction

The online reaction was largely one-sided in its support of Sam Hyde, which was partly due to him releasing his video first and giving context. The three most prevalent parts of the video, according to those who watched it, were Hyde teaching iDubbbz how to drive a stick shift, the girl that Hyde allegedly paid to be his fake "druggie girlfriend" to hit on and mess with iDubbbz, and the one-on-one interview between Hyde and iDubbbz. On January 8th, 2022, the Twitter^[3] account @coldchipenjoyer tweeted out a reaction to the video as they watched it, earning 106 likes in five days (shown below).

After watching it, Twitter user^[4] GamesNosh tweeted out the speculation that became a widely agreed upon theory according to posts online, primarily that iDubbbz never released the footage because he was far in over his head and got trolled instead of exposing Hyde, earning 8,000 likes in five days (shown below).

A YouTube video reacting to the Hyde documentary was made and uploaded on January 9th, 2022, by the channel TomDark^[5], earning 130,000 views in four days (shown below).

Getting Away With It (Official Release)

On February 2nd, 2022, iDubbbz posted his full cut of the documentary, titled "Getting Away With It," to YouTube, gaining over 300,000 views in the first few hours (shown below). In the documentary iDubbbz highlights how Hyde ran on a level of "meta-irony" the whole time, never revealing true personal aspects of his life to him. Fans have noticed that when played next to each other, it seems as though Sam had more mutual footage than first thought, and selectively chose to not release some information, such as him letting iDubbbz know it was a joke during the one-on-one interview segment, casting doubt into the original video.

Various Reactions

Search Interest

External References