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Episode Recap: Video Villain
A viral video star achieves fame but at a terrible price, and a struggling writer gets death threats after a photo taken of him becomes a meme.
Jennifer Box was an aspiring model and actress who participated in a prank video called "Drunk Girl" about a girl pretending to be drunk to see if "random men" (actors) on the street would help her get home safely. The Internet didn't get the joke. Many perceived the video to be making fun of rape and both Jennifer and the male actors involved in the video were bashed on social media and the video started a national discussion about the irresponsibility of prank culture, across various news outlets. After the video made a national mess of her life, Jennifer found out that the producers had intended for the video to go viral and make the men in the video look bad. Classy. Jennifer was often confronted on the street, yelled at and threatened for what people perceived as a careless decision to appear in a crass video. Jennifer's brother moved to L.A. to comfort her but the online and in personal harassment got so bad that she started to chain smoke, which lead to her being rushed to the hospital as her lung collapsed. The stress was so unbearable that Jennifer eventually moved back to her hometown in Texas, completely derailing her modeling and acting career. With the support of her family and her faith, Jennifer is putting the pieces of her life back together.
Who doesn't love the nostalgia of a good old fashioned typewriter? The Internet apparently. Christopher Hermlin was sitting in the park using a typewriter to craft short stories for onlookers as a way to make a quick buck and hone his writing skills at the same time. Someone took a photograph of Christopher and his typewriter, it went viral and the cyber bullies had a field day. Online attackers made fun of everything in the photo and things turned violent when some commenters threatened to find Christopher and "smash his typewriter" over his head. The attacks shamed Christopher into hiding as he feared for his livelihood and his safety.
Get an update on Christopher, in his follow-up interview with Syfy.com.