A man claiming to be the brother of an alleged homeless man – who was filmed taking a $100 gift and using it to buy food for other homeless strangers in a California park – says the viral video that captured Americans' hearts over Christmas was a "scam."
As WND reported, YouTube star Josh Paler Lin, who is known for his viral video pranks, recorded what he said was an experiment to see what a homeless man would do after being given $100.
Americans opened their wallets to the man when he purportedly took the donation and distributed the food to strangers. The homeless man, who is identified as "Thomas" in the video, was said to be given a hot Christmas Eve dinner, a warm hotel room and a makeover.
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Meanwhile, donations poured in to help him get back on his feet. A fundraising campaign has collected more than $135,000. The YouTube video went viral, with more than 30 million hits.
The New York Daily News reported, "Viewers moved by the video to donate more than $130,000 to its 'homeless' star were blindsided upon learning he's not down on his luck, but stands to inherit $150,000 from his parents' estate."
A man named Kevin Nickel told the Post that the vagrant is actually his brother, Kenny.
"This is a scam," he said.
Nickel told CBS Los Angeles, "He's sitting on money. He's sitting on an estate. He chose this way of life. This money needs to go to real people, people who have fallen down."
Nickel told the Post that Lin duped his brother into going along with the hoax. But a message posted early Friday morning by Josh Lin on his Facebook page and the fundraising campaign website states:
"I understand some of you have heard or saw the false allegations about this story. Everything they said was untrue and false. We already spoke to our attorney and ready to take legal action towards these false allegations. Everything about this story is true and real. We will be speaking out on a couple of national TV news to clear out these false allegations as well as the legal actions towards these people who are behind the false allegations. Wish you all have a Happy New Year!"
In the video, Lin said he had expected "Thomas" to use the $100 to buy liquor and get drunk. After giving the man the cash, Lin can be seen following him to the Euclid Liquor Market. A few moments later, the video shows "Thomas" emerging with his bag full. Lin presumes there is alcohol inside.
But a man claiming to be an eyewitness to the incident told Vocativ.com that Lin and the man arrived at the liquor store in the same car.
“The whole thing is bulls--t,” said Taugan Tan Kadalim, who claims he was outside the Euclid Liquor & Market on Dec. 20 when the pair arrived. "Thomas knew he was being followed."
In the video, Lin watched as "Thomas" went to a park and then began handing out food items to other people in need.
"I feel I owe you an apology," Lin told "Thomas" in the video, as he informs him he had been recorded.
"You thought I was gonna get all smacked up drunk, huh?" "Thomas" asks.
"Actually, I thought you were going to buy alcohol or something," Lin replies.
"There's things money can't buy," he says. "I get a happiness out of what I'm doing."
Watch the video:
When Lin asks "Thomas" how he came to be in dire straits, he explains: "Basically I was living with my parents and my stepdad had cancer, and they were getting hospice, but it didn't cover … the insurance only pays so much. I quit work because I had to be available. So, he passed away, then two weeks later my mother passed away from kidney failure. The building they're in is being sold, the condo, and I all of a sudden found myself homeless."
The video shows Lin pulling out another $100 to give it to the man.
"I'm stunned," says "Thomas."
"I'm stunned," responds Lin.
"Thomas" tells Lin, "There's a lot of people that are just victims of circumstance and they didn't go homeless because they're lazy or … it could be a divorce, one thing leads to another and the man sells his boat, his home, everything, and all of a sudden he finds out he's got no money. There's a lot of good people that are homeless."