Model responds to criticism after runway walk at friend's funeral goes viral

A funeral has gone viral for its unique twist that involved a catwalk and a model strutting her stuff the casket and responded to some of the criticism she has faced.

In the footage shared online, American model Erica L Carrington can be seen gracefully walking down the red carpet as guests applaud and watch in awe.

As she reaches the end of the catwalk, there is an open casket with a man lying inside.

In what some viewers initially assumed to be a skit, it actually turned out to be the funeral of fashion designer Vernest Moore, hosted at the Newark Museum of Art.

The style of the funeral is said to be one of Moore's final wishes before his death.

Model Carrington later shared the footage to her personal Instagram page, where she described the day as "one of THEE MOST CHALLENGING things I have had to do."

"CAN’T BELIEVE this would be my final walk for you, so I WON’T," she continued. "From now on…even if I’m not walking FOR YOU, I’ll be walking WITH YOU, because I know you’ll ALWAYS be with me."

The clip soon surfaced on X/Twitter, with many (unaware of the context) having a lot to say.

"Even with the disclaimer, I was not prepared," one person wrote, while another added: "Now hold up I know this ain’t a funeral."

A third commented on the model's work, writing: "Didn’t matter that walk is gracious."

"Honestly better than some of these other send-offs I’ve seen," one person added.

Another surprised viewer wrote: "I thought she was going to fall down the stairs.....didn't expect the ending at all."

In response to going viral and some of the criticism Carrington told TMZ that it's what Moore would have wanted and that everyone at the funeral was onboard with it.

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