Josh Seiter swears he had nothing to do with his death hoax situation — despite all the suspicious details in his story!
As you know, a post went up on his Instagram account earlier this week announcing that the former Bachelorette star suddenly died at the age of 36. But the following day, Josh shocked everyone when he revealing he was actually alive. As for what happened? He claimed someone else hacked the account. And while many people breathed a sigh of relief over the news, others – including his former girlfriend Monica Beverly Hillz – began questioning whether this was all a stunt to gain some time in the spotlight.
Related: North Carolina Woman Arrested For Faking Her Own Death!
However, Josh insists this wasn’t a publicity stunt. And now, he’s talking more about what went down these past few days in an interview with TMZ on Wednesday. When the outlet questioned Josh why no one cleared up the reports when it came out during the “18 hours” he “wasn’t able to get access” to the account, he blamed it on the fact he has no team behind him:
“I’m not a celebrity, at least in my mind, I’m not famous. I don’t have a team that puts out statements or knows how to do stuff like that. I was at home. I wasn’t able to get into my account. I was working desperately and dealing with a thousand things – people messaging me, people calling me.”
But oddly enough, TMZ noted that they called Josh — and his phone seemed to go straight to voicemail. In fact, they pointed out that his cell “sounded like it was off” at the time. And they did not even hear back from him until the next day. What made this situation even more puzzling? The outlet also reached out to family members. Instead of correcting the reports and stating he was alive and well, they either hung up or told the outlet “no comment.” Hmm.
However, the television personality isn’t standing for the suggestions he orchestrated the hoax! Defending himself, Josh explained he was simply busy talking with friends and certain loved ones. But more than that, he was laser-focused on trying to get back his account all day on Monday:
“My priority was getting back into my Instagram account, which I didn’t know when that would happen, and then dealing with the stress of it all. It was just overwhelming. I know there are a lot of people that are Monday morning quarterbacking on what I should have done, how they would have handled it, but I don’t think anyone knows how they would have handled something like that until it happens to them.”
As for his family’s response? He added:
“My family is fractured, so we’re estranged. There’s a lot of family dynamics and balkanization going on within the nuclear and extended family in my house. I’m not sure who you tried contacting, but just because you guys called them doesn’t mean that they were going to answer it.”
While Josh recognizes not everyone will like how he handled the situation, he refuses to apologize when he was “a victim” here:
“I make no apologies for it. I know I’m going to have haters and detractors that don’t like how I handled it. I’m sorry. I’m not perfect. I guess I could’ve done something besides getting on Instagram to try to prove that I was alive, but I hadn’t had experience with this. I did the best I could. I’m sorry for everyone that was hurt by this person. I’m a victim, and they’re victims also. It’s sad that there were tributes going up, but I’m not to blame for that. I’m a victim too.
You can watch his entire interview (below):
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments below.
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, help is available. Consider contacting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, by calling, texting, or chatting, or go to 988lifeline.org.
[Image via TMZ/YouTube]
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