Man tried to prove viral Gorilla Glue video was a farce. He ended up in the hospital
Len Martin admits he was a skeptic and figured a woman who went viral for putting Gorilla Glue in her hair was “making that story up.”
So, the Louisiana man started the “Gorilla Glue challenge” to prove video featuring Tessica Brown, who bemoaned her “permanent” ponytail after using the industrial-grade glue as hairspray, was a total farce.
Despite the harrowing photos of Brown with her hair stuck solid, Martin filmed himself gluing a red Solo cup to his lips with plans to “lick it off.” The challenge landed him in an emergency room hours later, according to photos posted online.
“It’s real,” Martin wrote of the ordeal on Facebook. “I don’t know why I tried it. Now they talking ‘bout cutting the tips of my lips off in surgery. Y’all pray for me.”
Martin told WVLA-TV that doctors had to perform a “painful peeling” to detach the cup from his upper lip.
The aspiring rapper is no stranger to social media challenges and previously made headlines with the “ice cream challenge” in which he tongued down a carton of ice cream before placing it back in the supermarket freezer, the New York Post reported.
“Everyone is on social media,” Martin said, according to WVLA-TV “Everyday there’s a new challenge, but I did not think it would go this far. I’d never want to stick no Gorilla Glue to my lip and have it stuck there and go through all the situations that I had to go through.”
Martin attempted the challenge after Brown, also from Louisiana, sought medical attention after her hair had been glued to her head for more than a month — despite several washes and slathering her head with coconut oil. Brown has continued documenting her journey, and on Wednesday, posted that she was headed to Los Angeles “to get this glue out of my head finally.”
Ohio-based Gorilla Glue has released multiple statements since the incident, warning users about misusing their product.
“Our spray adhesive states on the label ‘Do not swallow. Do not get in eyes, on skin or on clothing.’ It is used for craft, home, auto or office projects to mount things to surfaces such as paper, cardboard, wood, laminate and fabric,” the company said.
Martin insists this latest attempt was no stunt and hopes fans don’t follow in his footsteps.
“This isn’t the challenge you want to try,” he told WVLA-TV.
This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Man tried to prove viral Gorilla Glue video was a farce. He ended up in the hospital."