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Slater Vance, son of Black Panther star Angela Bassett, recently received backlash online after he pulled the viral Michael B. Jordan death prank on his mother. The 16-year-old is a rapper and singer who shares his music on his Instagram account.
Angela Bassett's son hopped on the bandwagon of the viral TikTok trend where people are pulling a prank on others by faking a celebrity death. In the TikTok video shared on December 31, it seemed like his parents were about to leave the house to go somewhere when Vance stopped them and said:
“Wait, mom, dad, did you…did you hear this? Michael B. Jordan dead at 35.”
His mother was instantly shocked after hearing the news. The American Horror Story actress was at a loss for words and walked over to her son to confirm it. Angela Bassett and Michael B. Jordan have worked together in Marvel’s Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). The two are reportedly good friends, so it came as quite a devastation when the 64-year-old actress suddenly had to hear about Jordan’s alleged death.
In the prank video, Slater’s father, Courtney B. Vance, can be heard saying in the background:
“Stop it...you’re playing.”
This trending prank, like any other fake celebrity death prank on TikTok, has been criticized by netizens. As such, people bashed Slater for his insensitivity since his mother already had to deal with the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman, another of her Black Panther co-stars.
Angela Bassett's son made a public apology on social media after he pulled a mean prank on his mother
Slater Vance has over 5000 followers on Instagram as of this writing. Among his popular releases, the rapper released his album Journey 2 Forever in September 2021.
He was born through surrogacy on January 27, 2006, in California. Moreover, Slater and his fraternal twin sister, Bronwyn Vance, were born nine years after their parents, Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett, tied the knot. Angela once revealed that since pre-school, her son had faced racism due to his African-American ethnicity.
The 16-year-old rapper did the fake celebrity death prank on his mother to get a crazy reaction out of her, which he got. However, he could not grasp the gravity of such a prank and received negative criticism for it online.
Slater deleted the prank video from his TikTok account soon after. Following this, on January 1, 2023, he took to Instagram to post another video, where he apologized for partaking in this "harmful" trend. He also made an apology to Michael B. Jordan and his family. Slater mentioned that Jordan is his idol and that taking part in such a prank was "completely disrespectful" of him.
He added:
“I don’t wish any bad ramifications of my actions upon his family nor my parents as they deserve none of the backlash. I own this was a mistake and I hope this can be a teaching lesson to anyone else who uses social media as a tool and a source of entertainment to truly understand that your actions can have consequences that extend beyond you.”
At the end of the clip, Slater apologized once again for any hurt his actions may have caused Michael B. Jordan, his parents, or anyone else who could have been involved in the prank. He concluded the video by saying that he was truly sorry.
