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Comedian says viral video claiming lions loose in Detroit was a joke: "It was just me being funny"

Fake video claiming lions running loose in Detroit causes social media uproar
Fake video claiming lions running loose in Detroit causes social media uproar 02:14

(CBS DETROIT) - Detroit comedian Jay Cotton says he started a bit of an uproar on social media, but he didn't mean to. 

In the video he found online, he claims 13 lions are roaming the city of Detroit. Cotton says the video has nearly half a million views since it was initially posted, with many people thinking it was really filmed in the Motor City.

He says he thought it was pretty clear that the video was posted as a joke. 

"It was just me being funny, y'all," he said. "Like, I love the city of Detroit. This is my city. I love y'all."

Within days, social media users across platforms started reacting to it in an unusual way.

"Not enough people are talking about what's going on in Detroit right now," one user says. "Please someone explain to me how 13 lions are walking down the street in Detroit," another user said.

Now, the chef and comedian behind the post says he's sorry for anyone he may have scared, but he hopes this serves as a reminder not to believe everything you see online.

"At the end of the day, yeah, it was a joke, but people don't really use their brains. If the news not talking about it, that's how you know it's not true ... just go look it up," Cotton said.

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