Chapel Hill, North Carolina - The Valentine's Day break-up of two US college students in North Carolina that featured singers, hundreds of spectators and a profanity-laced tirade was a hoax after all.
Ryan Burke said this week that the confrontation, which became an instant hit on www.YouTube.com, was all a stunt to show the power of internet communities and the amount of money that companies make from them. The pair were not even dating.
The fake breakup garnered plenty of attention, including more than 747 000 hits on YouTube where users post video online, and media coverage.
"The fact that actual news agencies are interested was a surprise," Burke said, according to The Charlotte Observer. "We did think it would get some media attention but not from those outlets (like newspapers)."
Last week, Burke, 22, claimed he and Moorman had been dating for four months but that he broke up with her because of alleged infidelity. He attracted a crowd by promoting the event on the social networking website www.facebook.com, and hundreds of students and several photographers were among the spectators at a popular gathering spot on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus.
When Moorman, 21, arrived, a cappella group sang the Dixie Chicks hit I'm Not Ready To Make Nice.
When Burke dumped her, Moorman's response was an angry rant filled with expletives.
Moorman, a sophomore at North Carolina State University in nearby Raleigh, said she did not expect such a big reaction. - Sapa-AP