Reports recently emerged that veteran actor Patrick Shai had died. According to Channel 24, a Shai family spokesperson revealed that he had committed suicide.
As the news hit social media and sparked a conversation on mental health and the importance of being kind to others because you never know what they are going through, Cassper Nyovest found himself dragged into the mess as tweeps rehashed his last public online interaction with the deceased actor.
In his last public social media moment, Shai attacked the rapper in a video he posted online. He went after Cass, calling his mother a bi**h.
“Before I die I want to make sure that I've beat you so that on my tombstone they can write this is the man who beat Caster or Costa or whatever your sh*t name is ... Come you son of a b*tch,” Patrick said.
As you would imagine, social media did not take kindly to the video. The actor was dragged as Cassper's fans came to his defense. They figured he was chasing clout, and that he chose a wrong distasteful way to go about it.
Now, in the aftermath of his death, tweeps are pointing the finger at Mufasa and his fans. They think that the fans went after the actor too hard, and should have considered that he may be going through something.
However, the irony is that the social media user leading the charge against Mufasa and his fans, was one of the ones who led the team dragging Patrick. Twitter user @ChrisExcel was one of the ones who said Shai was chasing clout in a pathetic way, and now he turned around to say that Cassper's fans had done too much.
Cassper Nyovest fans dragged the old man until he took his life 😭
— ChrisExcel (@ChrisExcel102) January 22, 2022
Toxic fanbase.
— Simmy’K (@sim_p_wekhoza) January 22, 2022
Ngeloxesha you were at the forefront of it allhttps://t.co/iIciPPlYPZ
— The Will Of L 🏴☠️ (@LikhayaCK) January 22, 2022
The actor did ask for forgiveness after the incident. It is unclear what motivated him to launch the attack in the first place, but he did apologise. And according to some social media users, if Cass and his fans had been more vocal about accepting his apology, perhaps it wouldn't have gone the way it did.
But everything always looks easier in hindsight, doesn't it? The truth is, nobody could have known what Patrick was going through. Not Cass and not his fans. And as Pearl Thusi pointed out, someone else will be bullied next week, and Cassper is already getting bullied.
And next week someone will be getting dragged again 💔 https://t.co/r0HuUxGnsK
— Pearl Thusi (@PearlThusi) January 22, 2022
The irony seems to be lost on tweeps who are in an echo chamber of hate. But we hope people learn soon to be kinder to others online and in person.