Man in wig, not long-lost mother for little girl on Cambodian TV (VIDEO)

In what could be the cruelest prank ever, Cambodia TV show on mother's day promises little girl she will meet her long-lost mother, but gives her a man dressed up as a woman instead.

The climactic moment when the little girl is presented with a man dressed in a wig instead of her long-lost mother. (Source: YouTube)

MEDIA & SOCIAL MEDIA

Cambodia TV show mother's day prank, cruelest prank ever?

In what turned out to be a truly strange and cruel Mother's Day prank, a Cambodian TV show faked a reunion between a daughter and her long-lost mother that ultimately backfired with the audience.

The 13-year-old, named Autumn Allen, is a young singer who has appeared on TV many times before and is able to sing in Khmer, English, Chinese and French. 

She appeared on MyTV's "Penh Chet Ort ("Like It or Not") on Sunday for a special Mother's Day episode.

In tears, the 13-year-old said that she had not seen her mother since she left the United States for Cambodia with her father when she was six.

The little girl was then told that her dream of seeing her mother again would come true on the show in  a few moments.

 
The little girl then shared memories of her mother as a child with the audience. 

"She held me and kissed me and told me that she would always love me," she remembered.

Finally, at the climactic moment when the little girl was to meet her mother, a man dressed up in a wig and dress was brought on stage, a fake mother.  

The brave little girl joked with the fake mother and the TV show host but, meanwhile, the audience was not pleased at all with the prank and shared their anger and outrage on social media.

"The producer was stupid and brainless and heartless by playing around with the mind and heart of a 13 year old girl in this way," political analyst Ou Virak wrote on his Facebook page, a sentiment that most of the audience seemed to share.

The little girl managed to keep her cool and as she later told the Phnom Penh Post, "At the moment I was sad that I could not see my real mother, but I had fun doing the show. Initially I was disappointed, but Rolin [the male comedian dressed up as a woman] made me laugh so I had fun on the show. My dad was very proud of how I handled myself in the situation. He took me to a nice restaurant afterward."

The TV show later appeared to realise that the prank was wrong (neither popular with the audience and an obvious violation of media ethics) and eventually sent the girl a letter of apology which she shared with her fans (Note: There is the possibility that what happened on the show was all pre-arranged as a publicity stunt, something that often happens on this kind of show).

One Facebook netizen quite astutely suggested that the TV show, "should rectify this situation by helping her find her biological mother and reuniting them as they had promised. Not by writing an empty apology letter just to save face."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32716824
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/13/cambidian-tv-mothers-day-prank_n_7274206.html
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/lifestyle/mytv-prank-draws-anger
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/cruelest-prank-ever-teen-told-5684881

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