"The Chinese virus got Joe Exotic"
Instagram personality Dan Bilzerian was criticised by a fan about calling Coronavirus the “Chinese virus”, who he later told to “shut the fuck up.”
Bilzerian had posted of his own face juxtaposed on an image of Netflix’s Tiger King focus Joe Exotic.
In the caption, Bilzerian wrote “just when I think shit can’t get more fucked up, the Chinese virus got Joe Exotic.”
Receiving over 1.3 million likes, the majority of comments glanced over the Bilzerian’s use of the term ‘Chinese virus’.
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Just when I think shit can’t get more fucked up, the Chinese virus got Joe Exotic
The term, which the WHO itself discouraged people to use, has been scrutinised for exacerbating racism towards Chinese people.
Although President Trump has since stated that the virus is “not the fault of Asian Americans”, he came under fire for repeatedly referring to the virus as “Chinese”.
At one point, the president even went as far as saying Asian Americans “would 100% agree” with calling the Coronavirus “The Chinese Virus”.
Fox News also repeatedly used the term despite the increasing number of attacks on Asian Americans during this period.
Rep Judy Chu recently revealed there are 100 incidents of targeted racial hate a day towards Asian Americans as a consequence of Coronavirus racism.
One Bilzerian fan critiqued the social media influencer for using the term. Commenting on his ‘Tiger King’ post, Instagram user albertjavy wrote “Coronavirus…..stop using Chinese Virus to create hate.”
Instead of responding appropriately, Bilzerian ironically responded with hate. “shut the fuck up,” the 39-year-old wrote.
Bilzerian’s comment garnered almost 50,000 likes whilst the fan’s comment only received support in the form of 5,549 likes.
In related news, a woman in Brooklyn has suffered severe burns after a man poured acid on her head.