Comic outed for stealing O'Neal's material

An online comedian has been caught out stealing material from the late Patrice O’Neal.

Kain Carter has more than 110million views across his two YouTube channels, earning him an income through advertising.

However, viewers noted the plagiarism and called him out on it, culminating in the release of this 15-minute video highlighting the thefts.

In response to the allegations, Carter released a new video paying tribute to O’Neal, praising his ‘poetic’ way of expressing his opions.

He said: ‘You ever been watching one of my videos and thought to yourself, “That shit sounds familiar?” Well, it should because I owe a lot of what I am now and what I am becoming to one man, and that man is Patrice O’Neal.

Carter justified using O’Neal’s lines by quoting an interview he gave before he died in November 2011, at the age of 41, in which he said: ‘When I speak, I live.’

So Carter said using O’Neal’s material was his was his way of paying tribute, explaining: ‘Any time I spin a Patrice line or idea or whole video verbatim I guess that’s my way of being a vessel that he speaks through to continue to live.... I guess this is me keeping him alive in my own way.’

The statement cut little mustard with O’Neal’s friends and fans. Comic Jim Norton tweeted: ‘To anyone stealing Patrice's material to “honor him”; If you want to honor Patrice, direct people to his CDs and DVDs so his family gets $’

Here is Carter’s defence:

Published: 5 Aug 2013