K-Pop Star Jaejoong Lied About Having Coronavirus as an April Fools’ Day Prank
Jaejoong of K-pop group JYJ told his followers that he tested positive for coronavirus.
Turns out Jaejoong lied about having coronavirus as a bad April Fools’ Day joke.
I understand that one way people are coping with the current coronavirus pandemic is by making light of a bad situation. But it’s a different story when someone outright lies about having the virus as a joke. Sadly, this is what K-pop star and JYJ member Jaejoong did as a tasteless April Fools’ Day prank.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, Jaejoong told his 1.9 million followers that he was recently hospitalized due to coronavirus. According to the New York Times, Jaejoong claimed he caught the virus because he “lived carelessly, disregarding all of the cautions provided by the government and those around me.” He also apologized and said, “Sorry to those who could have been infected because of me.”
Of course, this caused Jaejoong’s fans to worry. But after receiving an outpouring of love from his supporters, he later admitted that his coronavirus diagnosis was not real. Jaejoong updated his original post with the confession and wrote:
“So many people walk the streets and live their lives without their guards up, ignoring it…and thinking it won’t happen to them, and it makes me so worried that my family and friends might get sick.
“Staying on alert right now....That is what I say to myself again and again. Although this did go quite far for April Fools’ Day, so many people worried about me in a short span of time. Oh and I don’t think of this as an April Fools’ joke. My family and my friends are getting sick...and dying....It’s never!! just someone else’s problem. I wanted to tell you that protecting myself is protecting the precious people around us. I will accept all punishment I receive from this post. I hope all of you are healthy.”
After coming clean, Jaejoong obviously got a ton of backlash for lying, and he now has a Twitter hashtag in his honor: #JaejoongIsOverParty. On top of that, South Korean authorities have said that misinformation about coronavirus is considered law obstruction and defamation, according to the Korea Herald. It is currently unclear if Jaejoong will face repercussions from authorities for his prank.
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