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Social media personality and YouTuber Chris Stanley posted a screenshot of a supposed NBC News article on Instagram on Tuesday. The headline of the purported news article read,
"Gay influencer arrested after filming street interviews inside Florida mall"
The drop head further claimed that police said the 24-year-old influencer was asking strangers "gay related questions" inside the mall despite being repeatedly asked to leave the premises.
The first screenshot also featured two supposed mugshots of Stanley. The following slide on Stanley's post read,
"Major Crimes Detective Ennis Mar with Miami County Sheriff’s Office was first alerted to this on March 31"
The post claimed the mall manager informed the detective that Stanley returned to the mall after being asked to depart. A picture accompanying the second screenshot demonstrated Chris Stanley asking strangers "whether they're straight or gay".
The last slide of Stanley's post, timed at 11:31 a.m. on April 1, contained a note from the influencer. Stanley said he had been filming interviews inside the Florida Mall the previous night because he urgently needed content.
Stanley reasoned that he had entered the mall again to take more interviews, despite the security asking him to leave. The influencer concluded,
"I am sorry to let everyone down like this. In the future I will do better."
He added in the caption that he was alright but was still "processing everything".
Regardless, Stanley was not arrested for trespassing into the Florida mall or for filming interviews. No report on Chris Stanley was published by NBC News.
Stanley's post was an attempt at an April Fool's joke, given that Tuesday was April 1. His followers caught on to the prank quickly and humored the social media personality.
Police did not take Chris Stanley into custody over Florida mall interview
Running the supposed NBC News article's screenshot through an image detector showed the photo was altered.
Chris Stanley further posted a shirtless photo on his Instagram stories alongside a link that appeared to contain adult content. The YouTuber played along with his April Fool's arrest joke and teased his followers as he wrote,
"dropping a new tape to pay for my bond"
Another giveaway in Stanley's post was the detective's name mentioned in the second slide. Ennis Mar is a popular fictional protagonist who appears in Ang Lee's 2005 gay romance, Brokeback Mountain, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Ledger played Ennis Del Mar, a cowboy in the movie.
Chris Stanley, who posts humorous short video content, shared photos from a Brokeback Mountain-themed shoot in January.
Stanley appeared in the photo series alongside another content creator and actor, Art Bezrukavenko. The 24-year-old influencer wished Art a happy birthday through the post, where they were both dressed in cowboy ensembles.
Chris Stanley currently boasts over 360K followers on Instagram and 467K subscribers on YouTube. His short film Second Thought won several awards, including a special mention at the One-Reeler Short Film Competition in 2024.
