WTF Of The Week: Raz B’s Comma Was an Apparent Hoax

It was reported last week that former B2K member Raz-B was on life support after being hit in the head with a bottle during a nightclub brawl in China. But it was all a hoax.

In a statement to CNN, Raz-B’s manager Elayne Rivers said the B2K singer’s injuries were not serious.

“The comments about Raz being in a coma did not come from his official representative,” said Rivers.

According to the original story, the 28-year-old was performing at a club near Shanghai on Thursday and was smashed in the face with a glass bottle while trying to break up a fight that erupted in the crowd. He suffered a gash in his lip and received medical attention, but did not wake up the next day.

A woman named Toy Jones, who acted as his publicist, sent the story to media outlets including TMZ and CNN. But several hours later, she told CNN that the singer had miraculously recovered from the coma and would be released from the hospital.

The original statement reads:

“Doctor says Numerous Brain scans showed that Raz’s entire cortex- the parts of the brain that give us consciousness, thought, Memory and understanding is now functioning. Doctors say its a miracle and told his family that he stands a strong chance of survival and no signs of being brain dead for the rest of his life against all odds,Raz woke up this morning and is in stable condition We ask the the fans and media respect our family’s privacy.”

Jones claims that she was hired by Raz-B’s family and was told to spread the news. Hundreds of media outlets worldwide reported the fabricated story.

The singer’s brother, Ricky Romance, told CNN that he too had been fooled by the erroneous reports.

“I was unfortunately unable to contact my brother at the time and then panicked,” said Romance. “I then alerted as many people of this information hoping to gather facts… Since the source that gave me this information was what I thought to be legitimately reliable I didn’t question I just believed. I apologize if I seem like I jumped to conclusions but a coma is a serious situation and it was concerning my brother whom is my best friend as well. I sincerely apologize for the confusion I caused if that is the case.”