This Iconic MTV Show Is Coming Back With Chance The Rapper As It’s Host
Prior to the reality television craze, there was one show where the top celebrities showed a very different side of them, and it tended to be their bad side. That’s because they were subjected to often cruel yet hilarious pranks.
MTV’s Punk’d played practical jokes on unexpecting celebrities who were normally trying to do everyday activities. At one point, almost all celebs were afraid that their turn was next. Thankfully, the show is coming back, with Chance The Rapper as its new host!
A look back at MTV’s ‘Punk’d’
Punk’d first aired on MTV in 2003. The hidden camera–practical joke show was an instant hit for its ability to prank some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. The show was co-created by actor, Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher was both an executive producer and host and used underground actors to help him execute elaborate pranks.
Initially, Kutcher and MTV worked to develop a hidden-camera show, Harassment, which would feature pranks on everyday people. They changed their minds during the trial run when a prank involving a fake dead body at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas backfired. The couple they pranked sued Kutcher, MTV, and the hotel for $10 million.
With Kitcher’s access to his celebrity friends, he changed the concept to involve celebrities. The show’s first target was singer Justin Timberlake. He was led to believe that his property and assets were being seized because of unpaid income taxes. By the end of the prank, Timberlake was in tears. The prank was named by Time Magazine as number three on their list of the 32 Epic Moments in Reality-TV History in 2011.
Other notable celebrity pranks involved Beyonce, Mandy Moore, Ciara, Kanye West, Elijah Wood, and Wilmer Valderrama. The finale episode aired in 2007.
‘Punk’d’ is returning with Chance The Rapper as the new host
Despite being off-air, reruns aired and fans petitioned to get the show back. In 2010, Vulture reported that Punk’d was being revived with Justin Bieber as the new host. Kutcher remained part of the program as an executive producer. The show officially returned in March 2012.
Along with Beiber as the host, the new concept featured a different celebrity guest hosts on each episode. Some of the guest hosts included Nick Cannon, Miley Cyrus, and Ashton Kutcher. The show ended in November 2012.
There were talks of a follow-up season but it never came to be. BET announced plans to bring the show back in 2013 but there was little updates. Finally, it looks like the beloved show has found a new home and host. Bossip reported that the revival will air on the new content streaming service, Quibi. Grammy award-winning artist, Chance The Rapper, is the new host of the show.
Chance shared the news to his Instagram account on Jan. 24. “I got a new job. I’m hosting PUNK’D on @quibi NO ONE IS SAFE,” he wrote.
It’ll be interesting to see what new-aged celebrities will appear on the new version of the show. Either way, fans expect the show to be as entertaining as the rest.
