Irish student admits Charlie Sheen intern claim was hoax

THE Belfast student who hoodwinked a TV station into giving him major coverage after claiming he won an internship with hell-raising actor Charlie Sheen has admitted the story was a hoax for his masters degree.

University of Ulster student Jonny Campbell, 25, confirmed the real story behind the headlines after his “exclusive” tale was reported at length by UTV, newspapers and a number of radio stations.

As reported in the Irish Examiner yesterday, the claim that Mr Campbell had beaten 82,000 people to become troubled Mr Sheen’s social media intern for eight weeks was in fact a hoax — ironically similar to something the Hollywood star would do.

In a statement released yesterday, the graphic designer explained the act is part of a masters degree project which includes showing the potential impact and power of social media.

“Anyone who knows me and the research I have been conducting on the masters will know that my focus has been on social media and the cult of celebrity,” he explained.

“I am interested in the public’s fascination with celebrity. Social media plays a huge role in celebrity status.

“This social phenomenon has been something I wanted to further research and the Charlie Sheen internship provided me the perfect platform to do this.

“Essentially I wanted to leverage the tools celebrities utilise — Twitter, Facebook and YouTube — to publicise my story,” the 25-year-old explained.

In the video application he initially claimed won him the coveted — if bizarre — role, Mr Campbell outlined how he would create awareness and raise money in the aftermath of a global disaster.

But during this video he also left a series of clues as to the real story.

To outline his points, the student held up a series of flashcards. As reported in this newspaper yesterday, when they are re-arranged in a certain order the hidden message “On March 29 I will lie and say @jonnycampbell won Charlie Sheen’s internship” becomes clear.

“This was an audacious stunt to hold a mirror up to the absurdity of the cult of celebrity,” he later admitted.

Among the media outlets to be tricked by the student were UTV, which gave him coverage on its rolling bulletins on Tuesday, the Belfast Telegraph, the Daily Mirror and online news site thejournal.ie.

After reporting the initial “news” with gusto, the latter website wrote yesterday: “Hands up, we’ve been hoodwinked.”

A spokesperson for the company looking after the Charlie Sheen www.internship.com recruitment process said the search for a suitable candidate is still ongoing.