'Prankster' films Ellen 'dance dare' behind NYPD cops, gets literal pushback

There's a fine line between viral stunt and harassment — as self-described "prankster" Alexander Bok discovered on Christmas Eve. Four days after two New York Police officers were shot dead in an ambush by a mentally unstable man, Bok snuck up behind two NYPD officers and danced "Gangnam Style." When the cops noticed, they pushed him up against their van, threw some insults his way, then appear to have thrown him to the ground as he walked away. Bok's assistant captured the encounter on video.

Bok was responding to a "dance dare" from Ellen DeGeneres, who called for Ellen DeGeneres Show "viewers to sneak up behind perfect strangers" and "dance behind them without them knowing it," tape their "dance dare" antics, and send them into the show.

It sounds kind of fun, but you can watch how unnerving the "dance dare" can be in practice in the first two and a half minutes of Bok's full video (the police confrontation starts at the 2:29 mark, right before the ominous music starts). Or you can just watch the NYPD part. Now that the video is, in fact, going viral, the NYPD is looking into the incident, TMZ reported Tuesday. You can make your own judgment after watching Bok in action. --Peter Weber

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

Sign up