Gas-Pump Video Staged? Viral Karaoke Couple May Have Been In On Joke

Will and Monifa Sima became internet celebrities this week when they appeared on a Tonight Show segment called “Pumpcast News.” But the spontaneous gas-pump station video may have been staged.

The Smoking Gun reports that there are several things that don’t pass the smell test in the viral video. Monifa and Will are both professional actors, and Monifa has even appeared in a “Pumpcast News” segment in the past.

Monifa, however, says that her second appearance on the segment was a complete coincidence.

Monifa said: “When it happened again, I said, ‘I cannot believe it!’ ”

According to Gawker, Will and Monifa are both trained actors. They even founded their own theater company before relocating to Hollywood. Jay Leno, however, introduced them as a bartender and a fitness trainer.

Will explained to the Chicago Tribune that The Tonight Show decided to make up job titles because they didn’t want people to be suspicious that the gas-pump video was stage. Well, that just worked out great.

Will said: “[The producers] didn’t want [people] to think we were actors and it was a ‘plant.’ They were like, ‘You’re a bartender and she’s a fitness [trainer].'”

Here’s the original viral video. Do you think it was staged? Or did Will and Monifa just find themselves in the right place at the right time?

The viral gas station video was so popular (it has more than 7.5 million views) that Will and Monifa were invited to The Tonight Show to do an encore performance.