A place was forced to turn around and go through with an emergency landing after a prankster joked about being infected with the deadly novel coronavirus.
The incident occurred mid-flight when 28-year-old rapper James Potok from Ontario, Canada, stood up only to proclaim that he comes from China and that he’s not feeling well.
As the wannabe rapper said, his words were “simply a joke” that was intended to get him some publicity.
However, saying that you’re infected with a deadly virus that cost hundreds of people their lives obviously isn’t a very good joke and the plane was forced to turn around after it was about halfway to Jamaica due to security measures.
“About midway through the flight, I stood up, pulled my video camera out – I was going to post it to Instagram, send it to 6ixbuzz so it goes viral,” the 28-year-old said in an interview with CityNews after the incident.
“I looked around, I said ‘can I get everybody’s attention please’ and… I followed up by saying, word-for-word, I said, ‘I just came back from Hunan province, the capital of the coronavirus [the actual epicenter of the outbreak is Hubei province]… I’m not feeling too well. Thank you.’”
While for some reason he thought he was being funny, Potok admitted no one laughed at his joke and the airline staff immediately began putting face masks on.
After the plane landed back in Canada, medical experts examined the musician and declared he wasn’t infected with the virus.
Despite wasting precious time of hundreds and people and getting arrested and charged with mischief, the 28-year-old insists his act was “good for publicity.”
“It would be something else if I said, ‘Hey guys, I have a bomb strapped to me.’ People blew it out of proportion,” he said as he attempted to justify his reckless actions.
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Replaced!