I can’t believe I have to say this, but please don’t crash a plane to get views on social media. Things like that should really be a given. Hopefully, the case of Trevor Daniel Jacob will act as a cautionary tale for those who are all too happy to push the envelope for clout.
The YouTuber, who is now sitting in a jail cell, is imprisoned for six months for deliberately crashing his plane and then lying about it to U.S. investigators. To be fair, Trevor Jacob might have gotten away with it if he hadn’t filmed the whole thing.
The now-infamous footage depicted Jacob jumping out of a plane with a selfie stick in hand, documenting it for all the world to see.
While he got what he wanted, as the video garnered millions of views, the former Olympic snowboarder is sentenced to one felony count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation.
Jacob “most likely committed this offense to generate social media and news coverage for himself and to obtain financial gain,” California prosecutors said. But was it worth it? He got his fifteen minutes of fame, but a criminal record is forever.
Still, Jacob described the experience as “humbling” in a statement of his own, and said that he believed his sentencing was the “right decision.”
The most bizarre part of it all is that the video is technically sponsored content: The purpose of it is to promote a wallet. But given that it ended with a felony charge, we’re guessing the wallet company isn’t exactly buzzing about the resulting publicity.
When all is said and done, it’s worth remembering that they say clout is one hell of a drug. But if that’s true, he should’ve gone cold turkey. There is not a singular sponsorship deal in the world that warrants leaping out of a plane.
