Influencer apologises over controversial pranks in China

A female influencer has reportedly apologised for allegedly harassing male strangers within her prank video series during her travels in China, which drew mixed reactions on social media.

Aruzhan Aibekova from Kazakhstan, has millions of followers on TikTok, is known for her bold, boundary-pushing content, including public pranks, social experiments, and comedic sketches.

While in China, she orchestrated a series of staged incidents she referred to as "security tests," which involved deliberately touching male strangers and working with accomplices to falsely accuse bystanders of theft, according to The Standard. These actions were primarily aimed at boosting views on her social media profile. 

In the widely circulated TikTok and YouTube videos, the men mostly appeared confused or tried to evade, yet she captioned the footage with tags such as “Chinese boys are shy". 

In other instances, she stole customers’ phones in shops and put them in staffs' pockets to accuse them of theft. On the street, she secretly placed her companion’s phone on passers-by, and accused the person of stealing it. 

The videos sparked widespread backlash online, with many condemning her actions as potential sexual harassment. The clips have since been deleted, and the influencer was detained by police for questioning upon returning to her home country. In her apology, she admitted that her actions in the videos were inappropriate.

After returning to Kazakhstan, Aibekova was summoned by Almaty police, who reprimanded her for "damaging the country’s image" and ordered her to apologise to those affected.

In a subsequent video statement, she acknowledged the controversy, saying: "The videos were not well-considered and were never meant to offend," while promising to exercise greater caution in her future content.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Guangzhou police station for a statement.

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