By now, you've probably seen the viral video of a girl who was drunk on the street and getting plenty of attention from men, but it turns out the whole thing was a hoax.
Well, it was a double hoax really, firstly because the girl was acting drunk, and secondly because it turns out that the guys who they "caught" on film were actually asked to participate and say a few words for a comedy sketch.
As of the time of writing, the video has over 8.5 million views, so there are plenty of people out there who now think that the guys were legitimately trying to get the girl in to bed, but those men have spoken out and talked to The Smoking Gun, saying that 20-year-old Stephen Zhang and his partner, 22-year-old Seth Leach were behind the video.
They approached the men on the street and asked them to say a few lines for a "comedic, hidden camera” piece and that it was a "student video". Actress Jennifer Box was approached by several men during it, including Josh Blaine, who said in a post on Facebook that even his friends had turned on him, believing that he was a would-be rapist: “it was supposed to be a funny skit. Here's to watching my back with virtually no friends".
Another man seen in the video, Mike “Mokii” Koshak, works as a sales rep for LA Epic and the company logo can be seen on his t-shirt, which caused the owner, Christine Peters, to speak to TSG, saying that he had been tricked into doing the video and that she was disappointed the company name had been dragged into it as a result.
In response to Koshak, Leach sent him a private message in which he apparently said that he shouldn't be worried about what people were saying about him, they'd look after him and "we are going to be huge and you are apart of it. Just go with it dude".
However, none of those who have spoken out said that they had signed releases or any form of paperwork, and UpRoxx point out that things could get litigious fairly quickly as a result.
Via UpRoxx, The Smoking Gun