NEW YORK—Ironically, Chris Chappell’s job is to try to get people to laugh on the internet, but this time the internet had its way with him.
Chappell is the host of “China Uncensored,” a satirical news show on YouTube and NTD Television that aims its wit at everything the Chinese regime doesn’t want you to think about.
Recently, Chappell decided to catch up on 20 years of pop fiction he missed out on and start reading the Harry Potter series. All was well for the first four books, but in the fifth book things started to get a little strange.
So he texted his Harry Potter mentor, Shelly Zhang, a good friend and collaborator on “China Uncensored,” asking her some odd questions about recent plot developments.
A whole hilarious exchange ensues during which the disturbing truth is revealed to Chappell that he’s been reading (somewhat sordid) fan fiction and not the work of JK Rowling.
Friend is reading Harry Potter for the first time. He suddenly realizes he’s read a fanfiction Order of the Phoenix instead of the real one. pic.twitter.com/tKNgT6usi6
— Shelley Zhang (@shelzhang) July 10, 2017
Nobody spoil what happens with Snape, ok? pic.twitter.com/y8IAfnEwO1
— Shelley Zhang (@shelzhang) July 11, 2017
With his permission, Shelly shared their chat on Twitter and the internet exploded. The initial post collected some 1,700 comments, 141,000 likes, and 60,000 retweets and was picked up by a pile of media including Mashable, Buzzfeed, and Time.
Chappell decided that since the internet was already laughing at him, he should have a chance to explain.
