Gotcha! Jimmy Kimmel might just be the king of YouTube pranks.
After several successful "Hey Jimmy Kimmel!" games, in which viewers have submitted scores of videos of them pranking family members under Kimmel's guide — the late night "Live!" host decided to pull a fast one on the entire internet.
Last week, a viral gem known as "Worst Twerk Fail EVER" — where a girl's attempt at the daring dance results in her pants catching on fire — was viewed on the video broadcasting site over 9 million times.
It was shared around on social media, and became water-cooler fodder on several television news outlets. Some blamed Miley Cyrus’ Video Music Awards performance, others worried that “twerking” could be as dangerous as it is provocative.
But on Monday night, Jimmy Kimmel stuck a fork in the conversation when he revealed that his “Live!” team is behind the video, and ultimately an elaborate hoax.
"To the conspiracy theorists on the Internet who thought the video was fake: You were right it was fake," Kimmel, 45, said after playing an "extended" version of the clip that features him appearing with a fire extinguisher at the end.
"We shot the video about two months ago," he explained. Which means a month before Cyrus, 20, would have taken to twerking on stage with singer Robin Thicke.
"We put it up and didn't send it to any TV station. I didn't tweet it, we didn't put it on any websites. We just put it up on YouTube and let the magic happen."
Kimmel also revealed that the girl from the video — previously identified as Caitlin Heller — is actually a stuntwoman named Daphne Avalon, but she was sworn to secrecy.
"I got numerous Facebook [messages] … texts …" Avalon said, about family and friends who had seen the video.
Some viewers had speculated the video was a fake, but “Caitlin Heller” refused any interviews, and the truth remained a mystery until Monday.
“Thank you for helping us deceive the world and hopefully put an end to twerking forever," Kimmel concluded.
After several successful "Hey Jimmy Kimmel!" games, in which viewers have submitted scores of videos of them pranking family members under Kimmel's guide — the late night "Live!" host decided to pull a fast one on the entire internet.
It was shared around on social media, and became water-cooler fodder on several television news outlets. Some blamed Miley Cyrus’ Video Music Awards performance, others worried that “twerking” could be as dangerous as it is provocative.
But on Monday night, Jimmy Kimmel stuck a fork in the conversation when he revealed that his “Live!” team is behind the video, and ultimately an elaborate hoax.
"To the conspiracy theorists on the Internet who thought the video was fake: You were right it was fake," Kimmel, 45, said after playing an "extended" version of the clip that features him appearing with a fire extinguisher at the end.
"We shot the video about two months ago," he explained. Which means a month before Cyrus, 20, would have taken to twerking on stage with singer Robin Thicke.
"We put it up and didn't send it to any TV station. I didn't tweet it, we didn't put it on any websites. We just put it up on YouTube and let the magic happen."
Kimmel also revealed that the girl from the video — previously identified as Caitlin Heller — is actually a stuntwoman named Daphne Avalon, but she was sworn to secrecy.
"I got numerous Facebook [messages] … texts …" Avalon said, about family and friends who had seen the video.
Some viewers had speculated the video was a fake, but “Caitlin Heller” refused any interviews, and the truth remained a mystery until Monday.
“Thank you for helping us deceive the world and hopefully put an end to twerking forever," Kimmel concluded.
