The trend is easy to understand. Users will secretly record their family members while pretending to scroll through their phone. The user will let out a gasp or an exclamation of "oh my God" to reveal a joke about a celebrity's death. There are different versions of the prank, including a mode of death and a location.
When these parents/ family members erupt into a fit of sadness, grief, or disbelief is when it happens. The trend came to a head over the weekend with the start of visiting family for the holidays. I had to try the trend while visiting my mom this Christmas because I am a Gizmodo staff writer who consumes too much internet. The thing went like this.
I said "mom" while scrolling my phone. You won't believe this. Andy Cohen passed away in New York City at the age of 54.
She was white as a ghost and very worried about Mr. Cohen.
I lied to her because she is my mother and Andy Cohen's biggest fan. Naturally, she was not amused. I didn't film my mother for this trend because I don't like recording people and posting them to the internet without their consent.
At the time of writing this article, there were more than 14 million views on a collection of posts about this trend. Some of the celebrities in question include Cher, Howard Stern, Oprah Winfrey, and John Travolta. Taylor Swift was one of the celebrities involved in the prank.
I don't have to tell you to be nice to your parents. Is it possible that your favorite musician, actor, news anchor, and radio personality is dead? It's not so funny now.
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