An impersonator of Twitter and Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, left Chinese fans disappointed after showing up to an event promised to be attended by the tech titan.
Gary Kong, president of the Sino-American Commerce Association, a not-for-profit corporation in Flushing aimed at promoting China-US friendship, promised that Musk would be at the launching event of the first issue of his new publication, Wall St. Magazine, as a guest of honor on April 27 in the James Hotel in Manhattan.
According to a report cited by the South China Morning Post, a man who resembled the businessman showed up at the event, guarded by security. He hastily launched the magazine and gave out several awards before being mobbed by the attendees.
It was only when someone pointed out that the appearance and voice of the impersonator were not similar to Musk’s that the crowd realized that he was a fake.
Kong told the South China Morning Post that he had originally planned to host a party with Musk on March 23 but had to cancel it after being “stood up” by the businessman.
He also mentioned that he was expecting the real Musk to attend the April event, but stated that the focus of the event is the magazine and not Musk.
According to Kong, the wording on the press release, stating, “Elon Musk launches cover appearance party in Manhattan”, ought to suggest that Musk will appear on the cover of the magazine but not at the event, adding that the invitation never guaranteed a meeting with Musk.
He claimed that the Chinese audience might have misunderstood the announcement of the arrival of the Musk impersonator at the event, causing the attendees to get excited at the scene.
The Sino-American Commerce Association later held a news conference two days after the event, stressing that they did not organize the event and that they “really didn’t expect such a scene,” Annie Fu, the association’s founding president, said.
She added, “All I can say is that this was [a result of] the differences between Chinese and Western cultures,” after claiming that there is a cultural difference between China and the United States when it comes to having celebrity impersonators.
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