Hearing a loved one pass away is news no one would take lightly, but when you hear fake news about someone you’ve never met yet adore, it results in some pretty good content. The “fake celebrity death prank” has gone viral on TikTok and Instagram, where adult kids catch the reactions of their parents after telling them their favorite celebrity has suddenly died.
The hashtag garnered 1.5 million views, with hundreds of videos of shocked and upset parents.
In one video, a girl announces at their family gathering that Oprah Winfrey has died, to which all the women immediately gasped, “no!” One woman blurted, “She just posted on Instagram this morning!” the group caught quickly it was a prank and began to laugh.
While the women in the shot were truly horrified by the news, the man caught on camera was totally unfazed and continued eating appetizers, which followers found hilarious.
“I truly love the man that just casually continues to eat,” one person wrote. “Mark has not a care in the world,” another wrote. The video has just over 250k views and almost 300 hundred comments in just four days.
The reactions were so good compilations of the videos began trending.
In these compilations, parents lose it over Simon Cowell, Dolly Parton, Jon Bon Jovi, Andy Cohen, Elton John, John Mayor, Jennifer Lopez, Taylor Swift, Drew Barrymore, and Harry Styles.
It’s the Harry Styles fan for me.
“This is one of those i-shouldn’t-be-laughing-but-i-am moments,” one person joked. “What’s more entertaining is seeing the person matched to their favorite celebrity,” another wrote.
While most people found the pranks to be innocent, some were seriously peeved they would cause emotional distress just for a trend.
“This shouldn’t be a thing tho, not funny…words are powerful, I can’t believe the things people call fun these days. What would happen if they used something positive to create a trend and happy emotions in their parents instead,” one person commented. “My dad’s idol actually died (it was Eddie Van Halen, I think, in 2020), and he was depressed over it for weeks. The guy loved him for 50 years. that f***s with people,” another shared.
Clearly, this generation wasn’t raised with America’s Funniest Home Videos, Jackass, and Viva La Bam.
Other parents had a meltdown over the fake deaths of Tom Cruise, Keith Morrison, Howard Stern, and Kris Jenner.
The internet is divided on what they think is a good and bad prank, but it seems like once these parents knew it was a prank, they laughed too.
