Fake Will Smith Tweet Stirs Frenzy
A message posted on the fictional Twitter account named after Will Smith about the killing of Trayvon Martin has flooded the site with repeated posts.
The angry post compares the recent incident where flour was thrown onto reality television star Kim Kardashian as part of a PETA protest and the controversial killing of Florida teen Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer.
"WE live in America where a girl that threw flour on Kim Kardashian was arrested on site. But the man who KILLED Trayvon Martin is still free," the person behind the fake Will Smith account posted.
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As a result of the post, Twitter users reached near hysteria and the post has been retweeted over a thousand times.
With the Twitter handle @RealWillSmith, the account in fact belongs to a white man from Nashville, Tenn. according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Although the "Men in Black" star does not have an official Twitter account, many other celebrities have retweeted the message by @RealWillSmith, include Rosie O'Donnell, Spike Lee, and reality star and ordained pastor Omarosa.
The false Will Smith account is well known for hosting wise, positive messages, such as Monday's post: "True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare. False friends are like leaves, found everywhere."
Another example of the usual posts on the account include a message from earlier this month.
"God puts people in your life for a reason, and removes them from your life for a better reason," said the account.
@RealWillSmith has almost 900,000 followers, and has posted over 1,400 messages on the account.
The@RealWillSmith account is not the first to post about the Florida teen being killed by George Zimmerman in the city of Sanford, Fla. Other mock celebrity accounts have taken to the micro blogging site about the case.
The @RealFerrelWill account associated with the comedian and actor Will Ferrell posted, "R.I.P. Trayvon Martin. For every R-T (retweet) this tweet gets, $1 will be donated to the #TrayvonMartin Foundation, which helps counteract racism."
Before realizing the offer was fake, thousands of Twitter users retweeted the post, including "Parks and Recreation" star Aziz Ansari.
#TrayvonMartin continues to be a trending topic on Twitter as the case is investigated by the FBI and federal Justice Department in Florida.
