Outrage at Justin Bieber's April Fool's Day prank is another sign that we've lost our sense of humor
Justin Bieber was in full mood for April Fool's Day and pulled a well-conceived and elaborate prank, but sadly it did not go down well with his fans.
On April 1, the "Baby" singer posted a sonogram photo with no caption on his Instagram account. Fans were hyped that the 25-year-old was going to be a dad,since he has expressed frequently his desire to be a young father.
Last autumn, he married supermodel Hailey Baldwin in a secret and private ceremony, and which was confirmed only in November 2018. As they remain happily married, gushing about each other in interviews, his 107 million followers really thought that the couple was expecting.
\\From Ellen DeGeneres to Kris Jenner everyone chimed in to comment on the tease, but because it was April Fool's day, many were a bit skeptical.
Kris Jenner wrote; "Ugh I actually got chills.... I almost cried then I realized what day it is... 😩😂." Bieber then followed up with a series of photos of his wife, where she appeared to be in a doctor's office, with her hands on her stomach, and captioned it, "If U thought it was April fools."
Congratulation messages started pouring in and fans were asking the big question: Is it a joke, or is he serious?
However, after an hour, Bieber posted a photoshopped sonogram picture showing a puppy, instead of the baby and captioned it, "Wait omg is that a,,, APRIL FOOLS."
The prank may have been over, but the backlash was just beginning.
Some fans noted that joking about pregnancy is not a laughing matter, as it is a sensitive matter to those struggling with fertility issues.
The serious and irate reactions to the prank leads us to the next big question: Has our generation lost its sense of humor?
April Fool's day used to be much simpler when you pranked your family and friends and amused yourself. Now, with the advent of the internet, everything is interpreted, debated and analysed.
In today's world, nothing is funny and almost all jokes, especially if it comes from a celebrity, is met with a backlash. And Justin Bieber is not in the boat alone. Trevor Noah for example. The South-African comedian and the host of 'The Daily Show,' is no stranger to backlashes for doing what a comedian should do - make jokes.
Recently, the comedian found himself in the middle of a social media storm after he joked about the conflict between Pakistan and India.
"I hope India and Pakistan don’t go to war, but if they did go to war it would be the most entertaining war of all time, because the Indian soldiers would run into the battlefield and shoot while singing and dancing," he said and received massive criticism from those who labelled his joke "racist, stereotypical and downright offensive."
"It's amazing to me that my joke about the conflict in India and Pakistan trended more than the story of the actual conflict itself. Sometimes it seems like people are more offended by the jokes comedians make about an issue than the issue itself," he tweeted.
He apologized and amends were made. Then again, it seems as though Americans are moving into an era where a jokes are no longer tolerated. Forget about it raising a few laughs.
Even though there were many who defended Bieber's prank and found it funny, but at the end of the day the purpose of the day was defeated. Instead of smiling emojis, the angry ones had a field day.