Last Updated on October 29, 2022
CNBC was trolled by a pair of pranksters going by the imaginary surnames of “Ligma” and “Johnson” as they carried random boxes outside of Twitter headquarters and had corporate journalists believing they were fired data engineers worried they’d no longer be able to afford their Teslas.
CNBC reporter Deirdre Bosa reported Friday morning that two deposed Twitter engineers were “visibly shaken” as they carried boxes outside of the Big Tech corporation’s headquarters following Elon Musk’s official takeover.
The men told the media that their names were “Rahul Ligma,” and “Daniel Johnson.”
“Ligma” even had a copy of Michelle Obama’s book, while “Johnson” claimed to reporters that he had both a wife and a husband.
“Michelle Obama wouldn’t have happened if Elon Musk owned Twitter,” the man calling himself “Rahul Ligma,” told the press as he was interviewed.
“It’s happening,” Deirdre Bosa reported for CNBC. “Entire team of data engineers let go. These are two of them,” Bosa tweeted, using the hashtag “#TwitterTakeover.”
“They are visibly shaken,” Bosa subsequently tweeted, continuing with her report on the two imaginary Twitter employees.
“Daniel tells us he owns a Tesla and doesn’t know how he’s going to make payments,” Bosa reported, adding that she believes Elon Musk was at the top of the man’s mind.
After an initial flood of sympathy from anti-Musk tweeters, Bosa’s report was quickly determined to be the result of a prank, but not before the story was picked up by other mockingbird media outlets.
The two men Bosa and other corporate journalists interviewed outside of Twitter headquarters were merely a couple of guys carrying boxes and having a laugh, it turns out.
Their fake surnames combine to form Ligma-Johnson, an old crank call phrase that sounds a lot like “lick my johnson.”
As the report’s foundation cracked and CNBC was being ridiculed by the public, Bosa blamed Twitter’s communications department for not responding to her and confirming whether or not the men had actually worked there before she reported that they did.
Even when it became abundantly clear that Deirdra Bosa, CNBC, and other corporate reporters had fallen for a couple of box-carrying pranksters, Bosa refused to actually admit that she was wrong, and wrote to Twitter that she’s “not been able to confirm that they were actual or employees.”
As countless Twitter users mocked the fake news failure, even Elon Musk got in on the fun, posting to Twitter that “Ligma Johnson had it coming.”