A rumor has been sweeping the internet that rapper YG was shot yesterday — but it isn’t true.
Fears started to spread after a hoax story was shared online claiming that YG was killed after being shot four times in a drive-by shooting. The hoax story, which, as of writing, had been shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter, actually originated from a prank site called React365.com where users can create pranks and post them on social media.
According to React365.com’s About page:
This website is an entertainment website, jokes are created by users. These are humourous jokes, fantasy, fictional, that should not be seriously taken or as a source of information.
L.A Rapper YG Shot 4 Times In Drive By Shooting https://t.co/M1rjmWs6Yt
— #WON MARLEY (@YTH_WON) April 2, 2019
The hoax story has since been taken down by the website with a statement that the prank was a bad joke.
“It’s a bad joke and has been deleted,” reads the message on the website which then invites users to prank their friends with new hoax stories.
Back in June 2015, West Coast rapper YG really was shot three times in the hip at a recording studio in Studio City.
Friends were said to have rushed him to a nearby hospital where law enforcement attempted to interview him about the shooting, but he reportedly refused to cooperate. Police said they recovered multiple shell casings and blood on the sidewalk where he was shot.
A representative of the rapper who later spoke with TMZ confirmed that YG was shot but that his injuries were “not life threatening” and that he was doing fine.
YG later said in an interview with Billboard.com that he’s “hard to kill.”
YG, born Keenon Daequan Ray Jackson on March 9, 1990, is a rapper from Compton, California best known for his debut single Toot It and Boot It, and mixtapes, including Just Re’d Up, The Real 4Fingaz, and 4 Hunnid Degreez.