Influencers sorry for chicken bone stunt, say homeless man gave consent

Summary

• Three influencers who sparked outrage after filming themselves giving leftover chicken bones to a homeless man claim it was with his consent, alleging that they had later provided him with proper food.

• In apology videos, they say it was their first attempt at a “charity film,” pledging to do better.

• Semambu rep urges MCMC to act, condemning the video as demeaning and exploitative of the marginalised.

Three influencers have appealed for the public’s forgiveness after they faced widespread backlash over their video depicting them giving leftover chicken bones to a homeless man.

In the video, which made the rounds online earlier today, three young men were seen enjoying a meal at a KFC outlet before placing their chicken bones in a packet of rice and wrapping the food up.

The trio then approached a man lying in an alley and gave him the food packet, which the man accepted with gratitude.

After leaving the area, the influencers then fed pieces of chicken to a dog.

In a separate video shared on his Instagram account, one of the online personalities featured in the initial 1-minute-20-second clip claimed that the much-criticised video was filmed with the homeless man’s consent and aimed at generating “charity” content.

He claimed that the homeless man was actually provided with a “complete” meal from KFC, consisting of two pieces of chicken and a packet of rice, after filming.

“We asked the homeless man if he would act with us and he agreed, so we shot the video together,” the influencer by the name of Aluk Durianzaiii said.

“Please give us a better chance to give back to society. We will do more good deeds later. I’m really sorry, everyone.”

In yet another video, Aluk (above) and the other two influencers bowed several times as they apologised to Malaysians, reiterating that the man they filmed was later given proper food off-camera.

“We needed to make more charity videos (and) this is the first charity film we’ve made. (We thought) it will cause such a big storm,” said Aluk, who has nearly 140,000 followers on Instagram.

The influencers did not explain how their video was meant to be a form of charity, or how it could raise societal awareness.

‘Insensitive and demeaning content’

Commenting on the controversial video, Semambu assemblyperson Chan Chun Kuang called on MCMC to take action against the influencers, stressing that such content was not only insensitive but also demeaning to the dignity of another human being.

He emphasised that it is inappropriate to exploit the suffering of marginalised individuals for entertainment in the name of “charity”.

“I have lodged an official complaint with the MCMC urging authorities to investigate and immediately take down the video to prevent its further circulation, which could erode societal values.

“But, enforcement alone is not enough. We must all engage in self-reflection,” he was quoted as saying by Malaysia Gazette.

He added that as long as such content continues to garner attention and views, it will continue to be produced by unethical content creators.

The scorned video, which appears to be “rage baiting” netizens, had gone viral, with netizens expressing their dismay and anger over the cruel prank.

Rage bait refers to a type of online content, particularly social media posts, which are created specifically to provoke outrage or strong negative reactions from viewers.

Such content is typically not aimed at informing or educating viewers, but to drive engagement with such posts through emotional manipulation. Such engagement can be financially lucrative for content creators.

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