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Who is Vivian Flores? Mystery behind ‘missing’ Lakers podcaster embroiled in catfishing scandal with Josh Toussaint

‘Not one person has a pic with her and the fanbase is wondering who the hell she is,’ one user tweeted

The Lakers podcaster Vivian Flores who reportedly "went missing" on Monday was found within hours of her alleged disappearance. Josh Toussaint — her worried podcast co-host — who first tweeted asking help to find her breathed easy and broke the news of her being "safe and alive". The tweet posted by him that first sparked worry read: "Hey Lakers family, - Vivian Flores (@Butterfly_424) is missing - 5’5” - May or may not be wearing a wig bc she’s going through leukemia treatment - From Santa Monica - DM me if you have a lead or may see her - Love you all and stay safe."

What followed was a string of theories that insinuated that she was a catfish. A few social media users claimed it was a man who was running Vivian's Twitter account, while others pointed out that her voice doesn't match with her face. Many social media users also said that her photos were bad photoshops of the Lakers games. 

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Who is Vivian Flores?

Vivian Flores — if the Twitter handle is to be believed — uses her social media pages to review games and share her two cents on the NBA team's performances. She writes and tweets for Laker Fanatics and is the co-host of the podcast titled 'The Laker Point Podcast'. She — along with Joshua — recently discussed the Lakers' game on April 16. They also had an at-length chat about Andre Drummond and Marc Gasol, Dennis Schröder's role and contract situation.

The bio of the account reads: "Lakers have my heart | Writer and tweets for @LAKERFANATICS | Co-host of The Laker Point Podcast|I dream of ball and superheroes."

What did Vivian Flores say about the drama?

"Y'all be on here, hearing the side of the story of one guy and then automatically assume he is right about everything. I have people on here that can verify who I am. I don't need to prove anything to anyone. As for me going missing, yes it happened. I passed out from my treatment," one tweet on the account @Butterfly_424 read. 

Another tweet said, "Now let's talk about people assuming that @josh2saint runs this account, are y'all that stupid to think a guy gonna talk like a girl on a podcast. Lmaooo come one now," and a third read, "So Kingsley wants to have his say and I shouldn't have mine, y'all want to assume everything he said is true go on but I promise on God if I have to talk about shit. People gonna listen too."

Is Vivian Flores real?

In a series of tweets, Vivian defended herself saying some people can "verify" who she is and that she doesn't need to prove anything to anyone. "As for me going missing, yes it happened. I passed out from my treatment." According to tweets, Vivian is being treated for leukemia and undergoes regular chemotherapy sessions.

Meanwhile, Josh Toussaint realized he was wrong and wrote: "Still haven’t gotten a goddamn explanation. Thought I trusted someone and learned my lesson. Tried to help a friend I thought was in peril. I was duped like yall and feel bad I was a pawn. Such garbage. Logging off for awhile. Stay safe out there. You never know."

Nonetheless, many slammed and quizzed why he — in the first place — posted that she had been found. 

What is the catfishing scandal?

Coming back to the catfishing scandal, people were not ready to believe it. "So let me get the gist of this Lakers drama...Vivian who’s one of the popular Laker fans on Twitter went ‘missing’ then was ‘found’ today. Now she’s being outed as fake and a catfish...And apparently, has beef with KD? The fuck is going on?," one asked.

Meanwhile, another reported: "This sh*t can't be real. Lakers Twitter is trending at number 14 because of the supposed catfish of one of the biggest Laker fans on Twitter. That fan, Vivian is trending at number 22 because of everyone on Lakers Twitter. Can't make that up."

‘Nobody has met her in person?’

"Think about this y’all, Vivian is probably one of the most famous Lakers fans on Twitter with 15k followers, and she lives in the LA area, nobody has met her in person? No pictures with her or videos?? She’s a catfish lmao," one user commented.

"Vivian(popular Lakers fan) goes 'missing' for a few hours 'Found' Today People start to question if this was real or fake Some notices her photos being fake Gets outted as fake and a catfish KD hops in and speaks to some fans...Apparently "Vivian" is a dude running an account," another wrote.

‘She would never accept Facetimes’

"From what I gather he used to “e-date” that Vivian girl but she would never accept Facetimes so that’s when he started to realize what was up I’m still sorta confused if she actually is a catfish or just photoshops her pics," a user expressed.

"So I listened to their podcast and my theory is Vivian is a real person but she sounds a lot older than the person in the pictures and her accent doesn’t sound like an accent had by someone that looks like that. #catfish #Lakers," another wrote. "That Vivian Girl is supposedly LA Laker’s biggest fan...but not one person has a pic with her and the fanbase is wondering who the hell she is and if she’s a Catfish with her profile," a user tweeted.

If reports are to be believed, several social media users claim this could expose a catfishing network going around for over a decade.

What's mysterious is how celebrities like Kevin Durant and O’Shea Jackson also spoke about it. Moreover, Flores doesn't seem to be letting it go and has been defending herself claiming to be real. Now, what is the truth and when will the cat be out of the bag? Only time will tell. Sigh!