Angela Bassett’s son, Slater Vance, is publicly apologizing after ending 2022 by pulling a cruel prank on theBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverstar.
Hopping on the recent TikTok trend of telling someone that their favorite celebrity has died and recording their reaction, the 16-year-old shared a video of him asking his famous parents if they had heard the (false) news: actor Michael B. Jordan found dead at 35.
Bassett and her actor husband, Courtney B. Vance, are visibly shocked by their son’s announcement, with Bassett repeating “no” as she rushes to confirm for herself.
Though the video has since been taken down, Vance came under unrelenting fire for taking part in the tasteless trend, leading the teen to post a video to Instagram apologizing for the “disrespectful” TikTok.
“I would sincerely like to apologize to Michael B. Jordan’s entire family, his extended family, and him directly as he is an idol of mine. Taking part in a trend like this is completely disrespectful,” Vance said in the now-deleted post, shared by Pop Crave.
“I don’t wish any bad ramifications of this or my actions upon his family nor my parents, as they deserve none of the backlash.”
Related:Angela Bassett on Return to Wakanda Without Chadwick Boseman
Teen Responds to Backlash Over ‘Insensitive’ Prank: ‘I Own This Was A Mistake’
Though the celebrity-death prank isn’t the nicest to pull on anyone, the teen caught extra flack for being “extremely insensitive”—as Bassett was still grappling with the loss of her and Jordan’s fellowBlack Pantherstar,Chadwick Boseman.
“Pranking Angela Bassett with the ‘unaliving’ of Michael B. Jordan when she JUST had to shoot a movie without the main character cus he passed…? That joke was extremely insensitive,” Twitter user Cindy Noir wrote. “Goodness gracious.”
Others urged fellow users to extend some grace to Vance, reminding critics that not only did the teen make a public apology—he’s still just a child, and the discipline should be left to Bassett alone.
“Ok I think Angela Bassett’s (minor) child gets the idea now. And I’m sure Angela Bassett had already chewed HER OWN child out by now,“another user sharedin a series of tweets. “That’s HER MINOR child like let her handle it.”
As for Vance, he seems to have learned his lesson, ending the emotional video by taking accountability for his mistakes.
“I own this was a mistake and I hope that this can be a teaching lesson to anyone else who uses social media as a tool and a source for entertainment to truly understand that your actions can have consequences that extend beyond you,” he added, apologizing again for the hurt that he’d caused.
