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Today people will do or say anything to bring attention to whatever they’re promoting, but a TikToker might’ve went over the line in his attempt to get more people to listen to his new song.
According to Blavity, TikToker Duane Cali had the bright idea of claiming that he was infected with the Mokeypox virus that has been running rampant across numerous communities. He recently admitted that it was all a farce and he just wanted to get his music more clicks. In a new video he posted on his TikTok account, Cali decided to come clean after he went on a McDonald’s run and received backlash from followers who reminded him he could be spreading the virus.
Before he came clean about his unusual and unnecessary promo method, Duane Cali posted a few videos trying to justify his McDonald’s run as followers ramped up the outrage on his carelessness.
@duanecaliReplying to @itscleoszn NOOO POLICEEE #dojacat #duanecali #fyp #chooseyourself
@duanecaliReplying to @fyihutao I NEED PEACE I THINK ABOUT OTHERS ALLLLLL THE TIME BUT IF I NEED TO EAT IM GOING TO EAT. I DONT HAVE TO STAY IN THE HOUSE JUST CAUSE YALL WANT ME TO. IM HUMAN TOO. #chillout #itsnotthatserious #calmdown #getoverit #fyp #uk #africa #asia #discovery #leavemealone #monkeypox # 
Covered in fake pockmarks (that must’ve been painstaking labor), Duane Cali finally revealed that it was all a hoax and even posted a video of someone painting pockmarks all over his body to prove that he didn’t actually have Mokeypox.
Saying everything was just “a promo gone wrong,” Cali tried to justify his actions by saying “I usually try to tie the marketing around a premise of the song. This time, the song was called ‘Choose Yourself,’ so I was trying to market in a way where it displays a person choosing themselves regardless of how other people feel about it. Unfortunately, it didn’t translate that way, and people just ended up getting mad at me.”
@duanecaliReplying to @tacochoosedays YALL have nothing to worry about. I was tranna tell y’all this in my other videos but y’all wasn’t hearing me lol y’all was only seeing me. Don’t believe everything you hear, don’t trust everything you see. But see all and hear all. Discernment is key. #fyp #live #love #laugh #melanin #black #prank #spoof #challenge #newmusic #newsong #discovery #payattention #watch #thehidden #viral #sandman #funnyvideos #reveal #getdressedwithme #dancechallenge
Yeah, we don’t think that one’s going to fly with his followers. Still, Cali doesn’t think he’s in the wrong and even feels like he might’ve taught everyone a lesson in the process. “Initially, I did it to promote a song, but I kept it going on so long simply because y’all need to stop believing every little thing you see on the internet,” Cali said.
Well, he’s not wrong on that last part.
Still though, had he never posted a video pretending to be infected, would he have come clean like this? Guess we’ll never know, but our money’s on “No.”
