This is precisely why April Fool's Day shouldn't be a thing this year. As we navigate through this global health crisis as a collective, some people are using humor to take their minds off of the pandemic. This, however, is not funny in the slightest.
K-Pop singer/actor Kim Jaejoong is making headlines this morning after his attempt at an April Fool's Day prank, lying about contracting COVID-19 and his hospitalization. The 34-year-old told his near-2-million followers on Instagram that he had been diagnosed with the coronavirus and was receiving treatment. Fifty minutes after uploading the post, he deleted it and explained that he was capping the entire time, trying to raise awareness for social distancing and self-isolation.
"Although this did go quite far for April Fool’s Day, so many people worried about me in a short span of time," said Kim, in a translated statement. "Oh and I don’t think of this as an April Fool’s 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."
Clearly, he went too far in this. In lighter April Fool's Day news, Lil Nas X also contributed to the makeshift holiday, actually making us laugh with his prank.