Susan Clairmont: Notorious YouTuber known as Jack Denmo charged with sexually assaulting Mac student
A Hamilton YouTuber notorious for partying with drunk university students, picking up young women and filming crude pranks has been charged with sexually assaulting a McMaster University student.
The student met Jack Densmore for a date, expecting to go for a walk and out to dinner. Instead, she ended up at his home, where non-consensual sex allegedly occurred, her mother told The Hamilton Spectator.
The next day, the student reported the incident to Hamilton police and went to hospital to have a rape kit done to collect forensic evidence, according to her mother.
The complainant's identity is protected by a standard publication ban.
Through his lawyer, Densmore said he is not guilty of sexual assault and the encounter with the student was consensual.
Densmore - who goes by Jack Denmo on social media - is banned from McMaster University's campus. Officials won't say why, other than to confirm the persona non-grata" designation is unrelated to any criminal charge.
The 28-year-old has also been banned from campuses at Queen's and Western because of antics related to his videos and his appearances at unsanctioned HoCo" homecoming street parties. Some of his YouTube videos have as many as 10 million views.
The alleged sexual assault took place on or about Aug. 5, 2020, according to court documents. That summer was between the student's first and second year at Mac. She was over 18 at the time.
The student had some minor contact with Densmore before the incident, says her mother. But she was unaware of the extent of his profile on social media. Then he reached out to her online and asked her out.
The plan was to go for a walk and then dinner, according to her mother. The mother spoke to The Spectator with the consent of the complainant, whom The Spectator has not spoken to. Instead, they wound up at his house, which The Spectator confirmed is a bungalow on Hamilton Mountain where Densmore lives with housemates. According to the woman's mother, the allegations involve unwanted sexual activity during that date. Alcohol and drugs are not alleged to be involved.
Densmore was arrested by Hamilton police on March 23, 2021, for one count of sexual assault.
The allegations have yet to be tested in court.
The student transferred out of Mac after the incident. She now goes to another university, her mother says. The complainant did not inform McMaster University of the sexual assault allegation.
His actions had a major impact on her and her life," says her mother. It's not an easy thing to get over."
The student has a good support system" of family and professional care providers who help her to work through the trauma," says her mother. However she has been left with skepticism and mistrust."
And fear of being in a similar situation," her mother says.
Her mother says she is speaking out about the allegations because she wants other young women, their parents and university administrators to know about Densmore and his behaviour with students.
She is concerned he may come across as a harmless party guy" yet he puts himself around young women who are intoxicated ... that are vulnerable."
He does use his fame' to attract people," she adds.
Densmore has elected to be tried by a jury. He was released on an undertaking and has been ordered to have no contact with the complainant, her mother or three other people.
His lawyer, Mark Fahmy, says he has instructed his client not to talk about his case.
Mr. Densmore asserts his absolute innocence and vigorously denies the allegation that he committed a sexual assault," Fahmy said in a statement to The Spectator. The events that led to the charge before the court were entirely consensual. Mr. Densmore is looking foward to his trial and is confident that once the evidence is heard, the court will exonerate him."
One of Densmore's housemates told The Spectator he is away on vacation" in Vancouver for the next few weeks. He then said he is away working."
Jack Denmo" appears to be serious work for Densmore, who registered Jack Denmo Inc." as a federal corporation out of his Mountain home at the start of 2020.
His LinkedIn page, now inactive, at one point listed Densmore as a paid content partner for YouTube. The page also referenced a property management business.
In a podcast posted Nov. 14, 2021, Densmore spoke of being ticketed for participating in nuisance" parties and he predicted the situation would escalate.
Queen's fined me $2,000. Another f---ing ticket. Add that to the list of tickets I have now. Right now I'm about $5,000 in the hole. They're just trying to make an example of me, guys. They've been coming after me for years. First they're doing the ban me from places' route. Then they're doing the negative headlines' route. Now they're doing the financial' route. There will be more routes. There will be criminal charge' routes."
Densmore was already facing the sexual assault charge at the time of that podcast.
I'm now banned from pretty much every university in Ontario," he continued.
They're trying to send a message. And every message they've been sending has apparently gone to voicemail because I still go to these f---ing HoCos, just to troll and create a spectacle to get people to join my cult. So yeah, they're throwing everything at me now. They're going to keep doing stuff like this, but it's going to be more serious."
Densmore is not a university grad, but he attended Fleming and Mohawk colleges.
Search Jack Denmo" online and you'll find complaints about him. Particularly from women who have had encounters with him. They say they felt uncomfortable with his uninvited attention.
However, plenty of other students herald him as the ultimate party boy. Though parents may not know who Denmo is, university students do. He has more than one million followers on TikTok. Fans greet him by name as he and his entourage make their way through crowded illegal HoCo street parties.
Calling himself King of the North" and wearing a crown, he interviews" drunk partygoers about getting wasted and having sex with multiple partners.
Densmore made one of his films - which he calls a funny documentary" - at the unsanctioned McMaster Homecoming in 2021. It has nearly 118,000 views.
The event saw a neighbourhood near campus overrun by 6,000 students who swung from trees, damaged properties and overturned a car. Densmore drew the line at the car flipping. (Don't flip cars guys!")
The video opens with the crowd chanting Denmo" and one young man telling the camera that Mac should give Denmo an honorary degree because his homecoming videos promote party life at the university. Ninety per cent of the kids who go here, come here because of him," the student says.
Over the next hour, there are shots of Densmore drinking beer and smoking joints, and clips of him encouraging people to drink until they throw up. He is filmed with his arms around young women, sometimes autographing their breasts.
He asks partiers how many day kills" they plan to do - a reference to how many times they will have sex with random strangers.
I'm getting older. I can only do two or three kills a day," Densmore says in the video.
He brags about smoking crack cocaine at a previous Mac HoCo and says he is teaching young men social skills."
In another of his videos, he offers this advice to young men: always get consent" before having sex. He suggests they film a consent video."
The mother of the sexual assault complainant is disturbed some young men seem to look up to Densmore and his demeaning, misogynistic" and predatory" behaviour.
He's breeding a culture among young men," she says. You're not just on the lookout for Jack Denmo, you're now on the lookout for the guys looking up to Jack Denmo."
In a series of other videos, he visits university campuses and picks up" young women. During the pandemic early last year, he continued a video series entitled Take a Virgin to the Club."
Fahmy says it would be manifestly unfair to construe the character that Mr. Densmore plays on YouTube with who he really is."
Mr. Densmore is a talented comedian, satirical journalist and actor ... When he is not on camera he is writing a book and screenplays, in the hopes of producing a movie one day. He enjoys spending time with his family, girlfriend and friends."
Facing this accusation and the criminal court process has been the most difficult personal challenge he has faced," his lawyer says.
Despite the court case, Densmore hasn't quit filming - although The Spectator has not found any footage of Hamilton's most recent HoCo street party on his social media channels.
A recent video posted to his YouTube channel - and a Reddit complaint thread - suggests he was at the Shambhala Music Festival in British Columbia over the summer, Talking to People on Drugs!"
But several months after his arrest, Densmore hinted online he may soon be done with HoCo.
After four years of getting lost in the sauce I think my itch may finally be scratched. What's the old saying? I get older, they all stay the same age," he said in an Instagram video titled The Truth. Also, with the way the world is going, I'm probably going to get cancelled any day now."
If you are a survivor of sexual violence and need support, please see the resources below:
SACHA Sexual Assault Centre Hamilton and Area: 24-hour support line 905-525-4162; www.sacha.ca.
McMaster University Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office: svpro@mcmaster.ca; svpro.mcmaster.ca.
McMaster Students Union Women and Gender Equity Network (WGEN): wgen@msu.mcmaster.ca; msumcmaster.ca/service/wgen.
Susan Clairmont is a justice columnist at The Spectator. sclairmont@thespec.com
Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com