The Jalal Brothers, a trio made famous by their controversial YouTube pranks, appeared on The Project tonight to justify their latest video.
In “Drive By Shooting Prank”, the three brothers are depicted tricking a father and his young daughter into believing they are in the midst of an Islamist terrorist attack. Donned in traditional Arab garb, Max, 20, Arman, 18 and Rebeen, 16, point a toy rifle at the pair from a car, while loud gunshots roar from the speakers.
Upon hearing the blasts, the child is seen clutching her father’s leg before sprinting for cover.
The panel, comprising Waleed Aly, Carrie Bickmore, Peter Helliar and esteemed journalist Stan Grant, was deeply concerned by the video. Given their failure to provide The Project’s producers with the contact details of any of their pranks’ victims, Aly voiced suspicion that Jalal’s stunts are staged with actors.
You can watch the segment below. Post continues after video…
“We have a theory… we reckon everyone who is in them is in on the stunts. We reckon they’re acting,” he told the brothers.
But the trio insisted all of their videos are “as real as they get”, telling Aly the young victim in the Drive By Shooting Prank was “a bit shaken up at first”.
The entire panel was aghast, but none more so than Stan Grant, who has witnessed terror first-hand.
“I’ll tell you what’s real. I spent 10 years covering war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, right through the Middle East.” He admonished. “I’ve stood in the blood of terrorist bombings…
“There is nothing funny about this, there’s nothing real about what you’re doing. It’s abhorrent.”
When probed about the morality of their pranks, the brothers justified their actions because they gifted the traumatised girl with “lollies” and “a teddy bear” to calm her down afterwards.
Unsurprisingly, that wasn’t good enough for Bickmore, who asked: “Have you been nearby when an AK47 has been fired?” The boys snidely replied, “No, have you?”
Believing their videos are no different to the tricks on TV shows like Punk’d and Scare Tactics, the group refused to acknowledge the gravitas of their cruel pranks.
Watch The Jalal’s Drive By Shooting Prank below. Post continues after video…
The Jalal’s YouTube channel currently features titles like “Bomb Prank”, “Public Kidnapping” and “Public Suicide”.
Referencing the theme of terrorism which is consistent across majority of Jalal’s 23 videos, Helliar queried, “What is the point that you are trying to make?” to which eldest brother Max responded: “Entertainment purposes.”
Each of the provided excuses were inadequate for the panel, who were visibly frustrated by the trio’s blasé attitude.
“The idea of a terrorist attack like that is not a hypothetical fictional idea to people right now. It’s one that is very real.” Waleed reiterated.
Before signing off, the brothers begrudgingly conceeded, “The skit was pretty irresponsible, yes.”
Explaining that such an incident would leave her “shakey for a long time”, Bickmore added, “I hope they’re getting paid on that YouTube channel and they can afford a psychologist for that poor girl for the rest of her life.”
“If that happened to me, I would be scared of noises, I would be shaky for a long time after that,” she added.
What do you think about the Jalal’s pranks?
Top Comments
The Chaser Boys did similar things, causing trauma to citizens who thought they were being attacked (e.g. in a King's Cross shop) - did they get caned by The Project? Nope! Friends of the Project cast are immune!
I always thought hat particular Chaser stunt was beyond the pale - for similar reasons.
Chaser had a legal team that had to pass every sketch for conduct. If it was likely to be confronting they warned the people before hand. You have no idea what you're on about and are protecting little upstart criminals.
As a mother of Teenage Boys it is not ok. HOWEVER as the mother of teenage boys they are teflon and make mistakes! if you watched the Today Show this morning you would have seen Karl interview these boys and l am thrilled with the way he went about it. Karl clearly was annoyed but he simply got it - they are teenage boys- Karl did not lecture them nor tell them off he calmly questioned them and in doing so got there respect , my respect and l am tipping many parents of teenagers respect. For all of you out there that want to basically run them out of town - IT COULD BE YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER. The only standout in this story is KARL - great work .
Yeah, I saw that. As soon as I saw their age I was thinking to myself, 'Wow, how is Karl going to handle this? He can't exactly blast them, can he?'
"For all of you out there that want to basically run them out of town - IT COULD BE YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER."
I don't have kids but I do have parents. And believe me, if my brothers or I had ever pulled a stunt like this, my mother would have been the one turning us into the police.
Nope, couldn't be my son or daughter, because my kids actually have respect and empathy. Kids do stupid things and I'm sure my kids will too, but most kids are smart enough to realise that acting like a terrorist will probably get you shot, or get someone killed when they run out in front of traffic in an attempt to flee. I don't see how this is any better than throwing rocks off a Freeway overpass
That said, I do think it's likely that they're actors, otherwise surely one of them would have spoken to the media by now?
'i don't have kids ' Well Sheena when you have kids then maybe you might also have understanding , whilst l understand your concern ,it has really no substance. What they did was terribly wrong but as a parent again it could be anyones child doing it.Running kids out of town and turning them in - well maybe in 1960's.