Jimmy Kimmel staged that twerk fail video with a girl setting herself on fire [Updated]
Watch his "director's cut"

Twerking is all the rage, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. YouTube user Caitlin Heller was making a sexy twerk video for her boyfriend when things went terribly wrong — or, as the video's description puts it, "things got a little too hot."
Skeptics are already wondering if the video is staged, but, for now, consider it a cautionary tale: Don't twerk unless you're prepared to get burned.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Update: On his ABC late-night show Monday night, Jimmy Kimmel took credit for the video, introducing its star, "Caitlin Heller" (actually a stunt woman named Daphne Avalon), then showing the "director's cut" — which ends with him walking though the door with a fire extinguisher. "To the conspiracy theorists on the internet who thought the video was fake, you were right," Kimmel says. So, now you know.
This article was originally published on Sept. 6 and updated on Sept. 10.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
-
What are reciprocal tariffs?
The Explainer And will they fix America's trade deficit?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Leonard Peltier released from prison
Speed Read The Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents had his life sentence commuted by former President Joe Biden
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump officials try to reverse DOGE-led firings
Speed Read Mass firings by Elon Musk's team have included employees working on the H5N1 bird flu epidemic and US nuclear weapons programs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published