The Biggest Freakouts In The Punk'd Revival
This content was paid for by Quibi and created by Looper.
Ah, hidden-camera prank shows, why do we love thee? Well, it's chiefly because we love to see people flip out over hysterical episodes of inconvenience. Punk'd ratchets up that delicious indulgence in guilty pleasure by pranking celebrities, removing the perfectly-manicured veneer of the VIP lifestyle. As much as we love celebrity culture, we also don't mind seeing them taken down a peg or two for our entertainment.
Quibi has rebooted the storied celebrity prank series after many years' silence, and a whole new set of celebs are in show host Chance the Rapper's sights. Each episode might only be about five minutes, but no expense is spared and no idea is too ridiculous to spring upon the unwary glitterati in Los Angeles. Let's dig into the best and most frantic freakouts the Punk'd revival has to offer.
Megan Thee Stallion loses it
The first episode of the new series has no interest in opening with a slow roll — we kick right off by putting rapper Megan Thee Stallion in the hot seat. Her VIP-status-obligatory tinted-window SUV, usually meant to give a sense of privacy and solitude, becomes a panic room when she goes in search of her "missing" dog 4oe and the caravan is accosted by a gorilla... or rather, a man in a gorilla suit. The costume is convincing enough in the dark and through a windshield, however, and the hidden camera in the dashboard captures every hoot, holler, and frantic wave of her impeccably-manicured nails as Megan thinks the hairy infiltrator is going to try and get in.
At one point, an actor strolls onto the scene and becomes the target of the "gorilla" instead, but Megan is all about that survival instinct and tells her driver heck no, don't open the door, as the actor is pantsed by the gorilla. It should be a tell for how ridiculous this all is, but Megan is far too busy shrieking at her phone as she attempts to call the police. It's a good thing Chance is a friend of hers, because when he appears on the scene from the control room to offer her precious 4oe and a hug, it's all good and Megan can only laugh at herself. It's a pitch-perfect slam dunk for an inaugural episode.
Tears for rat-based fears from Sabrina Carpenter
When actress and singer Sabrina Carpenter arrives at her home to find it completely covered by a tarp and seemingly in the process of fumigation for her episode of Punk'd, it is understandably a huge shock. From the outside looking in, it's an obvious joke from the outset, with cartoonish amounts of live rats in cages coming out of the house and Matt, the actor pretending to be the extermination supervisor, performing a long monologue about how the rats will be "rehabilitated" for pet adoption. To a 19-year-old, however, it's a quality sell targeted to overwhelm, and it does when she begins to cry over the possibility that her (and her siblings') possessions might have to be thrown out.
Where it might turn from joke to cruelty, however, credit is due to Matt for doing his best to instead reassure and sympathize with her while maintaining the bit, offering a hug and having her mom (who was in on the prank) also embrace her. When Chance later reveals himself and the prank, Carpenter does a full-on heel turn away from the cameras to squat and duck in the middle of the street for a moment in surprise and embarrassment. In the end, though, it's all smiles and self-deprecating laughter (as well as a bit of scandalized shouting at her mom for setting her up).
Ty Dolla $ign is ready to fight
One of the most common tokens of celebrity wealth is the sports car, and Ty Dolla $ign went ham when he purchased a custom-paint powder blue Maserati as his chosen status symbol. It's gorgeous, and he has every right to be a little possessive over such an automotive jewel. When Chance decides to craft his pranking scenario around a recalcitrant valet driver vaping and wooing a fake girlfriend inside said car while he's at dinner, however, that protectiveness emerges in full force. When the prank initially opens with an actor being unable to find the car, Ty already has his hackles up. But when it's found with the indolent vaper inside, Ty begins circling the car like a bird of prey glaring daggers as the other actor attempts to negotiate his "employee" and "girlfriend" out of the back.
Ty never flies off the handle in fireworks of rage, but there is zero doubt he means business as he begins mumbling thinly-veiled threats and, at one point, tries to sneak his way around the back of the car to haul the poor actor out of the backseat by force. His buddies come in clutch to keep them separated, and Chance swoops in soon after to soothe the smoldering irritation. It never quite explodes, but this is definitely a prank that has some tension and almost tips over the falls into something resembling a Jerry Springer episode.
Liza Koshy just wants you to be okay
In her Punk'd moment, YouTuber and Nickelodeon personality Liza Koshy thinks she's in for just another interview about her career and success, but the cascade of events waiting for her on the other side of the door unexpectedly shows off a true-blue sense of compassion.
Upon leaving her "interview," Koshy believes she has busted the nose of a young woman standing behind the door. The actress' nose bleeds fake blood with convincing volume. Koshy bursts into frantic apologies, repeatedly asking the young woman if she's okay. To make up for the accident, Koshy agrees to accompany her so-believed victim, who says she's a "huge fan" of Koshy's, to her bat mitzvah, conveniently set up in the lawns outside.
Despite her shock, Koshy follows along with the proceedings (hosted by a real rabbi!) as she's steered around the stage — all while genuinely concerned for her young charge's nose and the risk of getting blood onto what seems like a very real and fancy tallit that's wrapped around the both of them. Then, the final catastrophe arrives, feathered and winged: Koshy is encouraged to assist the young lady with releasing a dove at the conclusion of the "ceremony." As you may expect, it goes horribly wrong and causes a woman at a buffet table nearby to pratfall into a mass of cake and punch.
It seems like Koshy's eyes might actually pop out of her head before Chance emerges from the manicured hedges to reveal the prank. It's an old-fashioned bit of physical comedy that, start to finish, works like a charm. And at the end of it, even Koshy is laughing.
Lil Nas X is ride or die on Punk'd
Even cursory knowledge about Lil Nas X, who skyrocketed to stardom in 2019 with the hit song "Old Town Road," suggests the young rap maestro understands the value of loyalty. He proves that beyond any question on his Punk'd episode.
On the episode, Lil Nas is on the way to rehearse for his 2020 Grammys performance — you know, when he got to sing with Korean supergroup BTS in holographic Western wear? Unfortunately, he's met with a member of his staff, who tells Lil Nas that his BFF and stylist Hodo is in some hot water with "the law" over "tax fraud." Lil Nas is unflinching in his choice to be ride-or-die to his bestie, immediately stating that he will straight-up lie to law enforcement to protect her. Misguided? Maybe. But respectable in its own way nonetheless. Even as "agents" turn up the pressure and seem open to taking bribes, Lil Nas doesn't so much as suggest snitching on his friend, despite his increasing confusion and secondhand embarrassment at the agents.
For those Punk'd fans of a certain age, it won't be lost on them that the law enforcement angle of this episode likely only works because since Lil Nas was just 20 years old at the time and thus would have been too young to have any memory of Justin Timberlake's infamous OG Punk'd episode in 2003, during which fake IRS agents raided his home. While we meditate on this fact and turn to dust, we can't help but be charmed by Lil Nas' dedication to his friends.
On Quibi's Punk'd, Adam Devine gets litigious
Beloved celebrity whips are up on the pranking block once again for Adam Devine's episode of Punk'd, but it's far more drastic than actors hotboxing in Ty Dolla $ign's Maserati.
On Quibi's Punk'd, Devine rolls up to what seems like a perfectly normal public parking lot in his beloved black Chevy Camaro. Once he disappears inside for dinner, however, the lot is turned into a fake construction site. When Devine and his fiancée Chloe Bridges (who's in on the prank and actually turned over the the keys to Devine's Camaro) reemerge, utterly confused by the transformation, it's just in time to watch a wrecking ball "accidentally" snap off its line and slam into the front end of the car.
This time pretending to be the construction site foreman, Matt suggests the annihilated front end can be "buffed out," but in a flash, Devine's phone is out and he's speed-dialing insurance. He's clearly tired from a long night and is fed up as heck, but not so much as to let a good flex pass him by. Devine drops a couple of oblique references to his multiple lawyers the same way that men in period dramas flash the hilt of a sword, and he stalks around in a small circle, demanding to know what Matt the Foreman intends to do for him about the car. Who needs to flip desks when the quiet, shark-like approach is just as effective, right?
When Chance appears before cops can get involved and Devine's actual Camaro is rolled into the lot, safe and sound, the relief is obvious in all of Devine's body language. Dropping a very real wrecking ball onto an equally real car is the kind of spectacle we demand from Punk'd to draw out the kind of unfiltered reactions we see from celebs like Devine.
Addison Rae defends joy and passion during her Punk'd appearance
There are few more distinct Signs of the Times than communal mansion residences for TikTok stars and Instagram influencers. The perfect example of this is the Hype House, where social media personality Addison Rae lives in Los Angeles. It's the setting for her Punk'd episode, and the circumstances are also peak L.A. entertainment industry lifestyle: A teen girl visits the Hype House to supposedly do a photoshoot with Rae as she builds her own brand. The girl, however, reveals to Rae that she's not really into the influencer lifestyle. Rae is not only understanding, but also attempts to be supportive — telling the girl that the business she's in needs passion to succeed, and she should do what makes her happy. Rae even levels with her that she herself had felt doubts about her career in the past.
This is pretty wonderful to witness, but Rae's supportive remarks don't fly with the teen's pushy "mother," who wants her "child" to be famous, describing her as a meal ticket. Though Rae initially attempts to deescalate the pageant mom's confrontational ire, as she pushes the issue, Rae grows curiously sedate, save for a wrathful pop of the jaw and an arched, immaculately-groomed eyebrow. She appears curled like a viper, ready for a counterattack.
It never explodes before Chance and Rae's fellow content creators reveal the prank, but Rae is pretty clearly ready to throw the woman out of the Hype House — if not throw hands when the teen storms off from the photoshoot as the mother blames Rae for being sympathetic. Manufactured though the scenario may be, it's pretty believable for a town like L.A. — and that's why the prank is so successful.
After the ten episodes of Quibi's Punk'd revival currently available, we can't wait for whatever new tricks Chance is hoping to unleash.