A Danish comedian was secretly filmed for four months as part of a hidden-camera TV hoax, leading to public outrage and a government inquiry. Rasmus Wallbridge believed he had been offered the chance to direct his own film, but in reality he was the unwitting subject of an elaborate prank for the Danish broadcaster TV2.
The show, titled Everybody Loves Rasmus, involved around 150 people, including some of his closest friends, who were all in on the deception. Wallbridge spent months away from his wife and newborn baby, working on a Scary Movie-style film with his friend and collaborator Martin Johannes Larsen, unaware that he had been duped.
Show Pulled from Air Amid Scandal
The programme has been pulled from air by TV2 due to the backlash it received. The Danish government has also stepped in, with the Danish Minister of Culture calling for an inquiry into the programme.
The concept has been compared to the 1998 film The Truman Show, starring Jim Carrey, in which the main character is raised inside a ten-mile-wide complex without knowing he is being filmed and that everyone he meets is a paid actor.
Viewers Condemn the 'Prank'
Many viewers felt the programme went far beyond a prank and was more like bullying. One viewer said: "A joke doesn’t last 4 months. That’s just bullying." Another wrote: "That’s just mean. Seriously, who would think this was a funny prank? I am Danish, and I don’t understand it at all."
A third commented: "Why would anyone react positively to being Truman Show’d? They had to know it was going to backfire and they risked real harm to the target and possibly cast."
Apology and Aftermath
Bosses claimed Wallbridge had the opportunity to say no to the project before it hit screens, and said a psychologist closely followed him. The programme's director, Dorthe Thirstrup, has since apologised to Wallbridge, as has Marcus.
In a statement, Thirstrup said: "I would like to offer an unconditional apology to Rasmus Wallbridge and the participants in the programme Alle elsker Rasmus. I look inward and acknowledge that my judgment has simply failed here. This is the judgment that all the participants have relied on, and I am truly sorry about that. It was a wrong decision to make the programme the way we did. We have not looked after Rasmus well enough, despite the considerations we had beforehand."
Wallbridge has reportedly stepped away from the spotlight.
