YouTuber criticised for claiming he FaceTimed with Caroline Flack hours after her death

A YouTuber has faced a huge amount of backlash after pretending to FaceTime with Caroline Flack just hours after her death was announced.

In the almost five-minute video titled "FACETIMING CAROLINE FLACK!! *SHE'S ALIVE!* *SHE ANSWERED... MUST WATCH!!*" , Vlogger Joe, who has 27,000 subscribers, claims to have Caroline Flack's phone number and says he's going to call her to "prove" whether she's " actually dead or alive".

He goes on to explain that he got her number "off the internet", which definitely seems legit. He then says he's not going to read her number out so that all his viewers don't call her.

The whole thing is a painful watch. He seems to genuinely believe that the number he has belongs to Flack, and that the news that she had died is for some reason questionable.

He goes on to text Flack to ask whether she's dead or alive (as you do), to which she supposedly responds "I'm alive, people are spreading rumours, don't believe anyone in these days."

He then asks if she will ever come back to presenting Love Island, and receives a message back saying she hopes so.

Vlogger Joe interprets that as: "Caroline Flack will be returning to Love Island soon, as has been proven here!"

At this point, when he asks her to FaceTime to "prove" she's real, he acknowledges the fact that this could be a troll, but inexplicably decides to carry on with the video anyway.

At the end of the video, having suggested that a static seconds-long phone call might genuinely be real, he claims the whole thing was "skit" but also wants to raise awareness to mental health issues given that Flack died by suicide.

The comments on the video are disabled for obvious reasons, but it is still up on the platform and has had more than 20,000 views.

Over on Twitter, people had lots on thoughts. Many of the tweets contain insults and expletives, which we will not repeat, and people are calling for him to barred from the platform.

A number of YouTubers also made response videos criticising Vlogger Joe for his behaviour, saying he'd "gone too far" for views, which seems like something of an understatement.

Needless to say, such a video is not just in bad taste but also extremely irresponsible, as young viewers may take it at face value, and incredibly offensive to Flack's family and friends who are grieving a loss.

HT: Daily Dot

If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

For services local to you, the national mental health database- Hub of Hope - allows you to enter your postcode to search for organisations and charities who offer mental health advice and support in your area.

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