Angela Bassett‘s 16-year-old son has issued an apology to Michael B. Jordan after receiving backlash in response to a TikTok he made as part of the ‘dead celebrity prank’ trend.
In the now-deleted clip, Slater Vance filmed the reaction of his parents – Bassett, 64, and Courtney B. Vance, 62 – as he falsely announced his mother’s Wakanda Forever co-star had died.
“Did you hear this? Michael B. Jordan dead at 35,” the teenager was heard asking his parents, echoing videos made by other TikTok users pranking their parents.
Vance has now shared an apology, saying, “I would sincerely like to apologise for taking part in such a harmful trend.”
Watch the vide above.
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“I apologise to Michael B. Jordan’s entire family, his extended family and Michael directly as he is an idol of mine and taking part in a trend like this is completely disrespectful.”
When the video was filmed, Bassett had just returned from dinner with her long-time husband when they were confronted with the prank.
After being told the fake news, Bassett was immediately lost for words before repeating “uh uh” in disbelief – the video then abruptly stopped there.
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The unsavoury prank came just two years after Bassett dealt with the death of her Black Panther co-star Chadwick Boseman, who died from colon cancer in August 2020.
While thousands of children have been pranking their parents online by telling them their favourite celebrity has died, many commenters found Slater’s video a step too far as his mother has an actual personal connection to Jordan.
“It’s so much worse if it’s your friend not just a random celebrity,” one person said on a TikTok that reposted the now-deleted original clip.
“She already had to go through the pain of losing Chadwick,” another user sympathised.
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Certain corners of the internet have found the trend increasingly distasteful.
“It took happening to an actual celebrity for you to see how insensitive and disrespectful [the trend] is,” one person wrote.
“These are real people just like us, imagine getting online and seeing people think it’s funny to joke about your passing.”
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