Call it a skirmish. Call it a fracas. Either way, a seriously popular YouTuber is injured after his overwhelming popularity caused a miniature riot scene this weekend in London’s Hyde Park.
Gamer Toby Turner, who goes by Tobuscus and has over 2.3 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, toured London this weekend with buddy Seth Hendrix and wanted to plan an impromptu meetup with his fans Saturday afternoon.
He told them—all 350,000 who follow the Los Angeles native on Twitter—that he’d be in Hyde Park from 4pm to 6pm and that they should just find him there.
“If we get shut down by the cops…,” he wrote. “Oops?”
What followed was less of a civilized meetup and more of a fanboy riot.
Turner was mobbed by fans while walking down a path, eventually having to dismount from his Heelys and take cover by a tree. A thousand fans gathered around him, screaming and shooting footage on their cameras and smartphones, until eventually Turner was able to make his way over to a fence-guarded statue, where the situation eventually escalated.
According to YouTuber Evan Edinger, who was at the gathering, order didn’t stand a chance.
“Every time he tried to gain a handle of the situation vicious fans pushed and mobbed using their cameras and camcorders and torches and pitchforks,” Edinger wrote. “Hopefully, if he attempts a stunt like this again he brings security and plans an escape route.”
The scene got so intense that Turner eventually had to climb atop the spike-topped fence to get some space.
It was during that quick climbing episode that he punctured his hand.
Turner briefly addressed the crowd before splitting from the scene, finding a taxi cab along the road and telling the driver to hit the gas. He tweeted a message to his fans shortly after finding safety.
“Thank you guys so much for comin out,” he wrote. “We’re going to find another place and regroup with security!
“I love you guys so much. We just had to end that for safety. We need a theater! and 15 giant safety tanks.”
Fans have covered the aftermath with a smidgen of shame and a gallon of guilt.
“I just saw what happened to the good Lord Buscus in London, and I am VERY disappointed in all of you,” minecraftsilliness wrote on his Tumblr page. “Chasing after him and hurting people and whatnot. You should all be ashamed of yourself. You will go to bed without [any] dinner.”
“I honestly can’t believe this happened,” Tumblr user yepitskimmy616 wrote yesterday. “Toby shouldn’t have to be scared of meeting the audience. I just hope he doesn’t see the audience in a different light because of this.
In retrospect, Turner didn’t seem so phased.
“I think I’m moving to London,” he tweeted after he found dry ground.
Here’s guessing he won’t have much trouble finding fans.
Photo via Jurassic Jack/Tumblr