It's been little more than two weeks since Brett Cohen first posted his fake celebrity prank video on YouTube, and now Cohen will be appearing on the Jeff Probst Show on NBC during the new series' premiere week, which starts Sept. 10.
In the video, Cohen brought an entourage into New York City and pretended to a be a celebrity. The people were fooled, as many posed for photos with Cohen, and some even said they recognized him from "Spiderman" and were fans of his first single, both of which are untrue.
Cohen, who attends SUNY New Paltz, is just a 21-year-old Bellmore resident that graduated from John F. Kennedy High School, and once his video went viral on YouTube, he received worldwide attention.
“It means that the very hard work that went into it definitely paid off,” Cohen told Patch. “I’m very happy that people are getting to see this video. Whatever they think of it, I just hope they enjoy it.”
The video, which can be seen by clicking here, has eclipsed 4 million views in two weeks to go along with more than 34,000 likes and another 14,000-plus comments.
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Initially, Cohen was keeping track of all of the comments below the YouTube video and all of the emails about the video, but he said that’s no longer possible because of how quickly the video has gone viral. He added that he’s gotten emails from people in Poland and South Africa saying that his video is all over the news as well.
"It's calmed down a bit," Cohen said regarding the attention he's received from the video. "It's not full force, but people are still reaching out to me."
Cohen has appeared on “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America” (GMA) and “Good Day New York,” as well as many others. He was flown out to Los Angeles to film the episode of the Jeff Probst show, which will air at 2 p.m. on NBC during the opening week, and he told Patch that the filming was a great experience.
"It was unbelievable," Cohen said. "It couldn't have been better."
For more information on the Jeff Probst show, click here.
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