Rick Beato has opened up about the Giacomo Turra plagiarism controversy, revealing his personal doubts about the guitarist’s skills after a visit to his studio. Beato shared that Turra was unable to play well enough to appear on his YouTube channel, leading him to question the authenticity of the guitarist’s videos.
Giacomo Turra, the Italian guitarist known for his social media presence, was recently accused of plagiarism after YouTuber Danny Sapko exposed that Turra had copied note-for-note solos from well-known players such as Jack Gardiner and Alex Hutchings. Sapko further alleged that Turra had sold tabs and backing tracks based on these stolen compositions through his website and Patreon, without offering proper credit.
In his takedown video, Sapko described the situation as one of the most shocking examples of dishonesty in the music world, stating, “It turns out that, from the very start of his social media rise, Giacomo’s been using other people’s compositions.”
In a new video addressing the controversy, Beato explained that he had his reservations about Turra’s ability after the guitarist visited his studio a few months ago. “When Giacomo came in here — he was coming through town — and when he came in here and played, I realised he couldn’t play well enough to put the video out,” Beato said. “And then I was like ‘Oh, obviously all of his videos are fake.’ But I knew that they were all playalongs.”
While Beato condemns Turra’s alleged plagiarism, he clarified that miming performances for promotional or broadcast purposes isn’t necessarily problematic. “The faking — okay that’s one thing, but stealing other people’s music is completely not cool,” he stated.
Beato also criticized Turra’s public apology, which was posted on his (now-deleted) YouTube account, rather than on Instagram, where he has a larger following. “The apology appeared on YouTube, which isn’t really the platform that he’s known for. It’s really Instagram. The apology video should have come on Instagram,” Beato pointed out.
Despite the controversy, Beato emphasized that he isn’t looking to attack Turra. “I’m not here to pile on here any more than anyone else has,” he said, referring to the many videos already made by other guitar channels. “I didn’t post the video because Giacomo couldn’t play well enough to be on my channel.”
As of now, Turra’s YouTube channel has been taken down, though his Instagram remains active.
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