Bullied boy Quaden Bayles is NOT 18 even though viral conspiracy theory claims so; here's proof he's just NINE
Nine-year-old Quaden Bayles has risen to international fame after his mother shared a video, wherein he’s crying for being bullied. Quaden has dwarfism.
A fundraiser to send Quaden and his mother, Yarraka Bayles, on a trip to Disneyland has reached $463,587 from 11,123 donors when this report was published. Celebrities like Hugh Jackman, Piers Morgan and Brad Williams have come to his support.
Quaden, an Aboriginal boy, also led the Indigenous All-Stars out on to the pitch in their rugby league clash with the Maori All Stars in Queensland on Saturday. But this online fame also had a negative side. Many have falsely claimed that Quaden is not a nine-year-old kid, but an 18-year-old adult.
A post circulating on Twitter claims that his Instagram page and modeling career were proof that he “scammed everybody”. It reads: “Just so you know he scammed everybody … he’s 18, has plenty of money and yeah everyone fell for it.”
The post’s so-called proof was that his vast following on Instagram and that he had a post about his 18th birthday. The screenshots attached to the post were of Quaden in a supposedly Gucci sweatshirt, him standing with a woman, and what looked like an 18th birthday party.
Debunking the post, the fact-checking website Snopes, in a somewhat sarcastic tone, wrote: “It might come as a surprise to some, but standing next to a number does not automatically change your age to that number. In that same vein, wearing a shirt reading “Gucci” or standing next to an adult woman are not activities exclusively reserved for 18-year-olds.”
The photograph with the number, 18, as per Snopes, was one of the several he had posted after his friend, Garlen, turned 18. In one of the photographs, a birthday message for Garlen is clearly visible.
The fact-checking website also pointed out that in 2015, Quaden was in the news after a previous bullying incident. Then a four-year-old, Quaden even appeared on television.
Yarraka, his mother, has posted dozens of photos of him over the years to her social media accounts. For example, in 2012, she shared a series of photographs that showed her infant son on the beach.
Yarraka also shared a post on Facebook written by a woman who said she has “known Quaden since before this s**t blew up”.
“Ima (sic) say this once and that’s that. I’ve know about Quaden since before this s**t blew up. Yes, he’s 9! Dwarfism is not a joke, is he a model or actor? … so are a lot of kids … That doesn’t mean s**t!” she wrote.
An Instagram photo of the nine-year-old, shared as proof of him being an adult, was shared after being cropped by his accusers giving the impression that he is drinking wine with his mother. The Daily Mail reported that a bottle of Appletiser was sitting on a table next to him, proving his beverage was just sparkling apple juice.