SO. Following on from the article I published this evening about the Banksy arrest hoax, I received an email from someone who claims to be the person who wrote the original article on The National Report.
(I may be being duped here, I am not sure yet, but here goes… I may be fueling the fire here but I won’t know unless I published this post, so here goes…)
I asked “Paul Horner” one question in reply to the email I received:
“Why did you write the article?”
And here’s the reply:
FacebookTwitterGoogle+PinterestHi Mark,
To answer your question, simply put, I love the graffiti artist Banksy. I loved Exit Through The Gift Shop so much! I live in Phoenix, Arizona around the Phoenix Arts District and have so many friends that are into painting, graffiti and every other type of medium imaginable.
Growing up with my brother JJ Horner, all we would do is draw and other creative things. I’m 35-years-old. He’s now 32 and is a very well known painter/artist in Arizona. He also is co-owner of an up and coming skateboard company called Pyramid Country which is always featured in Thrasher Magazine. He does all the artwork, organizes the events and helps with the incredible videos and movies they put out.
My friends, artist and non artist friends in Arizona along with the ones I write with for National Report, find it absolutely hilarious that people around the world bought into the fact that I am the legendary Banksy. The most elusive artist in history is supposedly me, and people love it. My extremely talented friend Eric Foster, who I write with at National Report, created the Entertainment Tonight style video that is at the bottom of the video. This helps the ruse and sway any readers who are not quite sure of the legitimacy of the story.
And the main purpose of the story; a tribute to the man, the myth, and the legend of Banksy. With over 5 million views on the article today so far, the amount of people learning about Banksy for the first time is incredible and makes me so happy.
So, that’s why I wrote the article. Love and tribute, plus pimping out side projects like Fappy The Anti-Masturbation Dolphin and selling some “I’m Banksy” t-shirts at the bottom of the story is always a plus, not to mention the ad revenue made from Google and Bing today.
It’s been an exciting day! I can only hope Banksy sees this and I take some pressure off him as the five-oh search for me and not him
– Paul Horner
Please let me know if you have any further questions! Thanks!