Gay YouTuber apparently faked hate crime after being arrested
Calum McSwiggan claimed assault outside a gay bar, but police tell a very different version of events
An openly gay YouTuber known for discussing sexuality and safe sex has reportedly faked a hate crime in West Hollywood.
Calum McSwiggan gained notoriety earlier this year after he apologized to his subscribers for starring in bareback porn with friends as a teenager, despite repeatedly telling others to practice safe sex. Now, he’s back in the news after posting to social media following a night out in WeHo.
“Last night was the worst night of my life and I’m really struggling to find the words to talk about it,” McSwiggan wrote on his Instagram. “After one of the most wonderful weekends at VidCon we went out to a gay club to celebrate, and towards the end of the evening I was separated from my friends and beaten up by three guys.”
The image shows McSwiggan in a hospital bed with a small pad on his head. However, he claimed that he had “three broken teeth and six stitches in my forehead,” despite a lack of cuts or bruising to suggest such an attack.
“I’ve never felt so terrified to be a gay man in the public eye,” he wrote.
He also slammed police response to the alleged attack, saying they “should have been there to help and protect me but instead they treated me like a second class citizen.”
Unfortunately for McSwiggan, the West Hollywood Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told The Advocate a very different version of events.
“Deputies from West Hollywood Station responded to and investigated the report by Calum McSwiggan that he was assaulted by three males after leaving a local nightclub early Monday morning,” Holly M. Perez, department captain, said in a statement. “Responding deputies were unable to substantiate the assault.”
Furthermore, officers found that McSwiggan had “no visible injuries” and eventually arrested him after they observed him vandalizing a car on Santa Monica Boulevard. McSwiggan was booked and placed in a holding cell by himself.
What about his hospital selfie? Perez states that McSwiggan was seen “injuring himself with the handle and receiver to a payphone inside the cell.” He was attended to by medical personnel and transported to hospital for treatment, which is where he posted his photo.
As a final blow to McSwiggan’s version of events, here’s his booking photo, which was “taken prior to deputies seeing Mr. McSwiggan injuring himself.”
McSwiggan wrote that he wasn’t “in the right place to talk about” the incident and said that he would be “addressing [it] fully in the future.” Given what’s come to light, it’ll be interesting to see what he has to say.
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