Social media influencer Mike Smalls Jr. is defending his controversial livestream video during Hurricane Milton in which he sat on an air mattress with Ramen noodles in Tampa, Florida, as the storm hit.
“Surviving Hurricane on an Air Mattress category 5 Hurricane Milton Tampa MikeSmallsJr (FULL STREAM),” his video, also posted to his YouTube channel, says. Be forewarned that his video is riddled with expletives and slurs, so Heavy is not embedding it.
According to BBC, Mike Smalls Jr. “ventured into the violent winds” of Hurricane Milton in Tampa, Florida, as other people evacuated “holding a blow-up mattress, an umbrella and a pack of ramen noodles.”
“It’s my job just to entertain and think of creative things to entertain my chat. And if people want to, you know, if they’re inspired by what I do, I respect it,” he said to BBC, adding that people should “do things at your own risk.” He added to BBC, even though police say such activities are dangerous, “I stayed here, and I didn’t die and I’m chilling.”
He live-streamed the experience on the platform Kick and said he would “launch himself and his mattress into the water,” BBC reported. He ended up jumping into the Florida River, People reported.
“The wind started picking up and I don’t know how to swim…so I had to grab on to the tree,” he told BBC, which reported that his “hour-long stream from Tampa Bay” has more than 60,000 views on Kick and millions more on X and other social media platforms.
BBC reported on Smalls’ experience for a story about live streamers performing “dangerous stunts” in an “increasingly competitive environment.”
Mike Smalls Jr. Repeatedly Denigrated the Strength of the Hurricane in His Live Stream Video
Smalls said the “Water is flooding my whole raft” during his lengthy livestream.
“Can anyone teach me how to swim through the comment section?” Smalls said. “I need to learn how to swim asap. This is doggy paddle?”
He said he was not very worried about this “raggedy (expletive) hurricane” because it shifted from Tampa “just a tad.”
At another point, he said, “My screen is wet.” He said he heard it was going to get “more and more crazy.”
“I’m trying to stream in a hurricane,” he said. At another point, he referred to his air mattress as a “raft.” He held an umbrella and then said it broke as the wind picked up.
He said he was “unharmed” by the hurricane, which he called a “mid (expletive)” hurricane.
“Can somebody DoorDash me?” he said at another point, telling people he needed a new umbrella.
Tampa Police Told BBC That Ignoring Mandatory Evacuation Orders ‘Puts Lives at Risk’
Gettyebris litters a beach as clean up from hurricanes Helene and Milton continues along the Gulf Coast.
The Tampa Police Department told BBC that ignoring hurricane evacuation orders can be dangerous.
“Ignoring mandatory evacuation orders puts lives at risk. When individuals disregard these warnings, they not only jeopardize their own safety but also create additional challenges for first responders who are working tirelessly to save lives,” police told BBC.
“Intentionally placing oneself in harm’s way could divert critical resources and delay vital rescue operations for others,” the department added in the statement to BBC.
According to Accuweather, Hurricane Milton was a Category 3 hurricane when it made landfall but still reached 120-mile-per-hour wind speeds.
According to CNN, despite some influencers not taking the storm seriously, at least 23 people died in Florida during Hurricane Milton, which caused “a lethal storm surge, torrential rains, and dozens of tornadoes.”
“It’s hard for me not to imagine the heartbreak,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said, according to CNN.
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