Angela Bassett’s teenage son has apologised for telling her Michael B. Jordan had died as part of a TikTok prank trend.
Over the weekend, 16-year-old Slater joined in on the fake celebrity death announcement TikTok trend and told the actress that her Black Panther co-star had passed away.
In the video, Slater recorded his mum’s shocked reaction as he told her the fake news, with her walking over to his computer and soon realising it was a prank. His father, actor Courtney B. Vance, appeared in the background of the footage and seemed convinced his son was kidding.
After receiving backlash, Slater deleted the clip and uploaded a video message apologising for the prank.
“I would sincerely like to apologise for taking part in such a harmful trend,” he said. “I apologise to Michael B. Jordan’s entire family, his extended family and him directly as he is an idol of mine and taking part in a trend like this is completely disrespectful.
“I don’t wish any bad ramifications of my actions upon his family nor my parents as they deserve none of the backlash. I own this was a mistake and I hope this can be a teaching lesson to anyone else who uses social media as a tool and a source of entertainment to truly understand that your actions can have consequences that extend beyond you.”
Concluding his message, Slater added, “I apologise for any hurt that my actions might have caused Mr. Jordan or my parents or anyone else who could have been involved in this, and I am truly, truly and sincerely sorry.”
The prank comes more than two years after Bassett and Jordan’s Black Panther co-star Chadwick Boseman died aged 43 following a private battle with cancer in August 2020.
Bassett and Vance also share a daughter; Slater’s twin Bronwyn.
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