Social-media influencer Larz told his followers he was in a hospital after catching the coronavirus. The news came just a few days after he filmed himself licking a toilet seat in a public bathroom as part of a bizarre ‘Coronavirus Challenge’.
The 21-year-old from California tweeted: “I tested positive for Coronavirus,” according to the Daily Mail, but his Twitter account @GayShawnMendes has now been suspended.
He also uploaded a video to his Instagram account that appears to show him lying in a hospital bed and “doped up” on medication. His Instagram page is also full of badly edited photographs of him hanging out with celebrities, so his claims should be taken with a pinch of salt.
The challenge started as an obvious ploy for attention from the TikTok and Instagram influencer Ava Louise. She filmed herself licking an airplane toilet seat, adding the caption: “Please RT this so people can know how to properly be sanitary on the airplane.”
She told Insider she did it for “clout” because she didn’t want the coronavirus getting more attention than her. She added that “hot blondes” could recover from anything so there was “no harm done”.
In a follow-up video called “Why I licked the toilet seat, now I’m running for president,” Ava Louise said she was trolling the mainstream media with the stunt and the toilet seat she licked was on a private plane.
Another tasteless — and dangerous — prank some young wannabe influencers are taking part in is coughing on produce in supermarkets, according to the New York Post.
One 26-year-old man, named Cody Pfister, was charged with making a terrorist threat after filming himself licking a shelf of toiletries in Walmart on March 11, the Daily Mail reported.
