James Potok
Image Source: Paul Borkwood/CBC, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/coronavirus-claim-plane-westjet-flight-diverted-1.5452221
What was the Accusation?
James Potok, an Ontario musician and social-media personality who performed under the name Potok Philippe, faced widespread criticism in February 2020 after staging a coronavirus-related prank aboard WestJet Flight 2702 from Toronto, Canada, to Montego Bay, Jamaica. During the February 3 flight, Potok stood up while filming himself and told passengers that he had recently returned from Hunan province in China and was not feeling well. The stunt occurred during the rapidly developing coronavirus outbreak, when public concern about international transmission of the newly identified virus was especially high.
Potok later acknowledged that he was attempting to create a viral social-media video. WestJet treated the incident as a potential public-health threat. Crew members gave Potok a mask and gloves, isolated him from other passengers, and followed the airline’s infectious-disease procedures. Flight 2702, carrying 243 passengers, turned around and returned to Toronto Pearson International Airport. WestJet subsequently said that Flights 2702 and 2703 were cancelled because of the incident and replacement flights were arranged. Medical personnel assessed Potok after the aircraft landed and found him to be symptom-free. Police arrested him, and contemporary reports stated that he was charged with mischief and was scheduled to appear in court in Brampton.
Potok’s subsequent explanations complicated his apology. In interviews immediately after the incident, he acknowledged that he had been seeking publicity and described the stunt as an attempt to produce a viral video. In his later YouTube apology, however, he argued that he had never explicitly said he had coronavirus and maintained that his intended joke concerned feeling ill after eating Chinese food. He nevertheless expressed disappointment in himself, apologized for the distress and problems he caused, said that creating fear or panic had not been his intention, and promised to be more careful about what he said in the future.
Key Apologia Strategies:
Mortification, Good Intentions, Bolstering
Video
Transcript
Statement to the Press from James Potok:
Reporter: So you’re James?
Potok: Yes, I’m James Potok.
Reporter: From the flight?
Potok: Yes, from the flight. I go by Potok Phillipe. I’m an artist.
Reporter: You’re an artist?
Potok: Yes, sir.
Reporter: So can I just ask you for your interpretation of what happened?
Potok: I fly to Jamaica five times a year. One time, a couple trips ago, I did a similar thing. I pulled my phone out and made a viral video and got up and said, “Can I have your attention?” Everyone stopped and looked and I said, “Lil Wayne’s new album dropped. Everybody go get it. No problem with that. I sat back down. Landed. Got off and no issued. Seemed to me like this was in poor taste in retrospect. What I did, I stood up. I said, “Can I have everyone’s attention? I just came back from Hunan Province.” That was it.
Reporter: Why would you say that?
Potok: Well I had my camera with me. I was looking to get a viral video. I was looking to get it up on all the social media platforms. I figured it would invoke some type of reaction. Not on the plane. More people seeing it on social media going “Wow this kid’s got some balls or this kid is crazy or whatever.”
Reporter: So you were looking for some sort of promotion or viral video?
Potok: I was looking to create a video, yes, that would go viral. Yeah.
Reporter: For what purpose to go viral?
Potok: I’m an artist. Any publicity for myself is good publicity.
Reporter: And what do you think now about what happened?
Potok: What I did was wrong. I ruined the flights for two hundred and some odd people. I ruined their flight.
Reporter: Are there any repercussions from this that you know of?
[Potok begins talking off camera to his father]
Potok: They just showed up and knocked.
Reporter: Is that your dad?
Potok: Yes.
Reporter: Can I ask about repercussions?
Potok: They’ve charged me criminally…uh…yeah. I have court to go to. There’s all types of positions. People that are happy. People that are upset. But in the end, I ruined the people on the plane’s trip, so I’m extremely apologetic.
Sources
Coffey, H. (2020, February 8). YouTuber apologises for coronavirus prank that caused flight diversion. The Independent. https://www.the-independent.com/travel/news-and-advice/coronavirus-flight-youtube-prank-video-james-potok-philippe-wuhan-china-a9322266.html
Duribe, J. (2020, February 7). Influencer James Potok apologises for coronavirus prank on plane. Capital. https://www.capitalfm.com/internet/james-potok-coronavirus-prank-wuhan-westjet/
ITV News. (2020, February 6). YouTuber apologises for coronavirus ‘hoax’ which forced plane to return to airport. https://www.itv.com/news/2020-02-06/youtubers-apologises-for-coronavirus-hoax-which-forced-plane-to-return-to-airport
Westoll, N. (2020, February 4). Man who made fake coronavirus claim causing Toronto-Jamaica flight to return wanted to make viral video. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/6503789/false-coronavirus-claim-passenger-westjet-toronto-jamaica/
Wikimedia Commons contributors. (2018). WestJet Boeing 737-800 [Photograph by Saud]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WestJet_Boeing_737-800.jpg
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Sources
Coffey, H. (2020, February 8). YouTuber apologises for coronavirus prank that caused flight diversion. The Independent. https://www.the-independent.com/travel/news-and-advice/coronavirus-flight-youtube-prank-video-james-potok-philippe-wuhan-china-a9322266.html
Duribe, J. (2020, February 7). Influencer James Potok apologises for coronavirus prank on plane. Capital. https://www.capitalfm.com/internet/james-potok-coronavirus-prank-wuhan-westjet/
ITV News. (2020, February 6). YouTuber apologises for coronavirus ‘hoax’ which forced plane to return to airport. https://www.itv.com/news/2020-02-06/youtubers-apologises-for-coronavirus-hoax-which-forced-plane-to-return-to-airport
Westoll, N. (2020, February 4). Man who made fake coronavirus claim causing Toronto-Jamaica flight to return wanted to make viral video. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/6503789/false-coronavirus-claim-passenger-westjet-toronto-jamaica/