It might be a new year, but this is the same ‘ol Waka Flocka Flame. While the rest of the world was bringing in 2025 in celebration, it seems Waka, real name Juaquin James Malphurs, had a strangely different night. He took to his social media on Jan. 1 claiming he was assaulted by 10 different people. In the now-deleted post, Waka wrote “Can’t believe nobody helped me fight ten nixxas off but I’m still standing ten toes.”
If that wasn’t cause for concern enough, the Atlanta rapper even included graphic photos of his heavily bruised face with two black eyes.
The internet, to be expected, had a lot to say in reaction to Waka’s jumping. On X, @evildarkskinn wrote “This ain’t the Wacka I grew up on. Anyone can get jumped. Posting a pic for sympathy is different tho.”
Another user, @AntiSocialite81, jokingly said “Welp I guess Trump didn’t invite him to Mar a lago for the NYE activities.” Waka has remained adamant about his support for MAGA and President-elect Donald Trump over the years.
But although most of the internet continued to clown Waka well into the New Year, several people began raising their eyebrows at the whole thing. @Kinnzayyy wrote “These days you don’t know if it’s real or not?” about the rapper’s bruised face.
And maybe this user had the right idea because this is where the story takes an unbelievable turn...
Just two hours after Waka announced his beating, he posted a video of his face without a scratch on Instagram. Apparently the whole thing was a prank, but nobody except for the “No Hands” rapper seemed to be laughing.
“Crazy y’all ni**as believe that sh*t,” Waka said on Instagram, clearly amused by the joke. But even though Waka was all smiles, the internet did not hesitate to let him have it. On X, @nv00006 wrote “Waka Flocka starting off 2025 cosplaying as [Jussie] Smollet is diabolical.”
Another user, @budd_rosel, called the rapper “a one hit wonder” before saying he’s “too damn old to be seeking attention from the internet.”
Although Waka hasn’t explained why he tried to prank the world into believing he was jumped, we have to give props to the makeup artist responsible for Waka’s stage makeup!