INSIDE EDITION spoke with the Atlanta radio DJ who crafted a prank that Justin Bieber moving to the area.
Protestors vented their feelings about reports that Justin Bieber was moving to Atlanta. One protest sign said, “No Justin No Peace.”
A protest leader addressed Bieber directly on TV, “Bieber! We just want you to know that we are here!”
But the so-called protest is actually a hoax played on news organizations across America.
Whoopi Goldberg said on The View, “An Atlanta neighborhood is terrified! Terrified apparently, that Justin Bieber is going to move into their neighborhood!”
ABC said, “Will an affluent neighborhood keep out Justin Bieber?”
CNN said, “Will Atlanta residents keep Bieber away?”
The story also fooled the New York Post, the New York Daily News, websites like Gawker and Perez Hilton. But it was all a hoax.
Those three protestors with signs? They turn out to be DJ’s called from an Atlanta radio station.
DJ Larry Wachs now is owning up to the prank to INSIDE EDITION, saying, “The best radio prank in the history of American broadcasting!"
INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd asked, "What do you say to people who say you just shouldn't be putting lies out there?"
Wachs said, "We aren't the ones being irresponsible! It's their responsibility to check and they didn't do that!”
He said the prank was inspired by late night host Jimmy Kimmel's recent hoax on the news media that featured a wolf supposedly caught on camera roaming the hallway of the Olympic Village in Sochi. INSIDE EDITION was the first to tell the world it was cooked up by Jimmy Kimmel.
Media expert Mary Murphy says these stunts may be funny now, but at some point they could backfire big time. She told INSIDE EDITION, "It used to be you had to check your sources. They are no longer checking sources and just putting it up there. The problem is, this is a joke, and sometime it won't be and then it will be harmful."
