Tracy Morgan Passed Out At Emmys 2012: On Stage Fainting Hoax Becomes Twitter Buzz
When comedian and actor Tracy Morgan "passed out" on stage at the Emmy Awards on Sunday night, Sept. 23, it became a Twitter phenomenon within minutes. However, the whole thing was done as a hoax and was concocted by the show's host, Jimmy Kimmel, in a prank done in order to raise ratings for the show.
Jimmy Kimmel came up with the idea and it went as follows: while Kimmel was on stage, he asked Morgan to come up and the comedian then began to lie down on the floor very slowly.
"Just lie there for about 10 minutes or so. And when people tune in they will see this on the stage," Kimmel said as Morgan went down on the floor.
Then, Kimmel instructed viewers to post something on Twitter about Morgan passing out at the Emmy Awards (just to get some buzz).
"OMG. Tracy Morgan just passed out on stage at the #Emmys. Turn ABC on right now," Kimmel posted on Twitter, and instantly, "OMG Tracy Morgan" became a trending phrase.
By the time the Emmys returned from a commercial break, Kimmel reassured viewers that Morgan was OK, saying it was "just exhaustion." Regardless, by that time over 25,000 tweets were issued in response to the fainting hoax, according to the Inquisitor.
Celebrities to pick up on it and make their own Twitter posts about the hoaxed fainting spell included Stephen Colbert and "Community" star Joel McHale.
Twitter users then took to the social media site to get more details about the incident and get in on the laughs. One such conversation went as follows:
"@jimmykimmel what happened?? I missed it!! You joking funny man??" Leo Daniels tweeted.
@LeoRules@jimmykimmel LOL good way to get people to turn it on.." That1Nina said.
Then, "@Tha1Nina@jimmykimmel LOL Jimmy I'm gonna get you! You got me, made me turn it on haha #GoodOne."
Kimmel promised viewers the "greatest prank ever" while hosting the Emmy Awards and he might have just accomplished it.
