Pranksters fooled members of several media outlets into thinking they’d been laid off by tech billionaire Elon Musk soon after his Twitter takeover.
News regarding mass layoffs started making rounds after Musk took charge as the new owner of Twitter Inc on Thursday, 27 October.
In an attempt to hog the limelight, the pair was spotted carrying boxes, outside Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters. Several outlets reported layoffs were underway after the duo spoke to the media.
However, speculations started emerging on the internet after one of the pranksters said his name was “Rahul Ligma” — a reference to a popular internet meme. He also held a copy of former First Lady Michelle Obama’s book “Becoming”. The other said his name was “Daniel Johnson.”
As the word about a potential hoax intensified, several of the news outlets acknowledged that they were unable to confirm whether layoffs were actually underway.
After The Verge confirmed that the whole episode was a prank, Musk too responded on Twitter. “Ligma Johnson had it coming,” he joked, posting a picture of the duo.
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