It’s shocking the lengths people will go for fame and attention.
Korean rapper Ch1tkey, who allegedly fell to his death while trying to complete a social media challenge, has revealed that it was all a hoax.
Reports of Ch1tkey’s supposed demise first surfaced online on July 29, with friends claiming the 21-year-old, whose real name is Jung Joon Hyuk, had lost his balance and fell while live streaming from the rooftop of a five-storey building near Sangbong Station in Seoul.
His friends found him unresponsive and Ch1tkey was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
The rapper’s girlfriend posted a tribute to him on Instagram the next day and a person claiming to be a friend of Ch1tkey confirmed the tragic accident.
While some netizens flooded Ch1tkey’s Instagram with messages of mourning, others were skeptical of the news as Ch1tkey had been active online up until his reported death.
A police official also said there had been “no reports of incidents related to Jung Joon Hyuk (Ch1tkey) near Sangbong-dong on July 29”.
A netizen later revealed that Ch1tkey’s supposed death was a publicity stunt to draw attention to his new album.
Following the revelation, Ch1tkey confirmed the hoax, posting “Hello” on Instagram and shared his new track titled ‘Back’.
Outraged, netizens slammed the rapper for being an attention seeker and faking his own death for fame.
“Whatever he does from now on, people will only remember him as the low-class rapper who joked about his own death… If he wanted to live long while being criticised, then sure, I guess,” wrote one user.
Another said: “Joking about one’s life is unacceptable. There will be consequences for this.”