Man In Underwear Stops Los Angeles Traffic In Publicity Stunt
If you have ever been stuck in a traffic jam on one of Los Angeles’ many freeways, you know that any distraction makes everything 10 times worse. Such was the case Wednesday morning when a shirtless man wearing boxers scaled a sign, tying up southbound traffic on the 110 freeway in Downtown Los Angeles for two hours, reports the Los Angeles Times. It happened “after he scaled an exit sign, unfurled political banners and began vaping, dancing and shouting from a bullhorn.” Chances are, if any of those drivers could have gotten their hands on him, he wouldn’t have been dancing for long. Angelenos do not enjoy anything disturbing their already horrible morning commutes.
The reason behind the antics turned out to be a publicity stunt for an aspiring rap artist, which surely won’t endear him to those waiting to get to work. Unfortunately, the already slow freeway turned into a parking lot as firefighters and police worked to reach the man. Reports the Times, “The episode finally ended when the husky sign climber performed a back flip off the structure and landed on a massive inflatable cushion placed on the freeway by firefighters.”
“The man, who was identified by police as 29-year-old Alexander Dunn, was booked on suspicion of delaying a police officer, trespassing on state property and failure to obey a regulatory sign.” If his name doesn’t sound familiar, he performs under the name Dephree. If it still doesn’t sound familiar, well, that was the reason for the stunt he pulled. Considering the times we live in, of course his entire performance art experiment was captured to be used in a music video he plans to release Wednesday evening, according to his manager, reports the Times.
Dephree has just done a backflip of the sign. pic.twitter.com/d5qh6qybQ6
— Benjamin Oreskes? (@boreskes) June 27, 2018
One of the banners he unfurled was “Fight pollution not each other,” while another one read, “Give a hoot, don’t pollute.” The last one just had his name, because everything is about branding, and if he wanted the stunt to reach its aim, well, people needed to know who he was. Of course, the police know too.
“The man scaled the exit sign for southbound 6th Street, Wilshire Boulevard and downtown 4th Street offramps. All southbound lanes on the 110 freeway leading into downtown were closed by 9:30 a.m.,” reports the Times. “Witnesses said the man was alternating between yelling about himself, love and God, and freestyle rapping. He also took breaks and would sit down and vape.”
