Bo Burnham has largely gone radio silent since dropping his musical comedy special Inside in 2021. But a new social media campaign has fans wondering if Burnham could have a new project coming down the pipeline.
A TikTok account under the username @destroyarasaka and name “Robert Burnham” began posting videos of the comedian and his music Jan. 10 while redirecting users to a YouTube page sharing similar content. The TikTok account has already garnered over 239,000 followers by the time of publication.
“Stay, outside,” the profile’s bio reads. It also includes a countdown of 6 days, notably to the date TikTok will be banned in the United States.
Though thousands of fans have flooded to these social media accounts in just days, Reddit sleuths do not seem so convinced that this is the real Burnham.
The comedian’s verified Instagram account currently features no posts. Decider reached out to Burnham’s reps for comment but did not hear back in time for confirmation.
Fans on Reddit pointed out that the clips being shared on TikTok are from The Inside Outtakes. The music featured on some of the videos also seems to be pulled from a deluxe vinyl edition of the Inside soundtrack. One user even claimed that the account used to be a fan account for the video game Cyberpunk — Arasaka is the name of the evil corporation in that video game — and the owner allegedly fessed up to the hoax.
Burnham fans seem to be rejoicing in the comment sections of the account’s TikTok posts, with many writing that it’s just like the comedian to pop up just as the social media platform is set to be banned in the United States.
But bad news, Burnham fans. It looks like this is a major hoax.
The only confirmed project Burnham has in the works is an upcoming appearance on Sesame Street, according to his IMDb.
The new season of Sesame Street premieres Jan. 16 on Max, with new episodes airing every Thursday.
Bo Burnham: Inside is now streaming on Netflix.