Jimmy Kimmel pranks Internet with twerk fail hoax
The Internet has been had by Jimmy Kimmel.
A video posted to YouTube on Sept. 3, showing a woman identified as Caitlin Heller catching fire while trying to twerk her way through a sexy video, has been revealed as an elaborate prank set up by Jimmy Kimmel Live and a stunt woman.
The video entitled Worst Twerk Fail EVER - Girl Catches Fire! appeared online last week and it's now been viewed more than 9.7 million times. The story spread like the fire on Heller's yoga pants, with news outlets and blogs — including this one — re-posting the clip and wagging fingers at kids these days with their hazardous dance moves.
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Kimmel brought the flammable twerker onto his show to reveal the video was a sneaky stunt he pulled off by posting the video quietly, with no mention of his show, and simply letting "the magic happen."
Only after its viral explosion did Kimmel and his co-conspirator reveal that no one was really in danger of burning up in the video, and that the twerker was stunt woman Daphne Avalon, who tweeted about her viral fame on Monday.
Thank you @jimmykimmel ... Viral video. Check! That sure twerked out really well. Oh, and RIP alias Caitlin Heller. #endtwerkingforever
— Daphne Avalon (@daphneavalon) September 10, 2013
Kimmel offered some consolation to the masses he duped.
if it makes you feel any better, I would have believed it too #twerkburn — Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) September 10, 2013
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