For the past week, the collective imagination of the internet has been captured by the story of one Jered Threatin, a metalhead with big dreams who managed to con his way into a European tour despite having no actual fans. Threatin bought Facebook likes, YouTube views, and event RSVPs, faked live footage of packed shows, posed as a nonexistent concert promoter, and lied about ticket sales. He invented a fake booking agency, a fake record label, even a fake press outlet. It worked. He got his tour.

Of course, the whole scheme began to unravel when the tour began and, you know, no one actually showed up. The venues that booked him, assured of grossly exaggerated ticket sales, were pissed. They did some digging. It quickly became clear that Threatin was basically a fake band and all of this shit was made up. Once the story got picked up by the media, two members of the live band Threatin hired to play the tour spoke out about their experiences and quit. And yet somehow, perhaps thanks to the online notoriety, the tour continued.

As it turns out, Jered Threatin is actually a 29-year-old man named Jered Eames. Originally from the small town of Moberly, Missouri, he now lives in Hesperia, California, about 80 miles inland from downtown Los Angeles. MetalSucks reports that Threatin isn’t his first musical project. He was also the leader, sole recording member, and live bassist for the black metal band Saetith, which achieved some minor success opening for larger acts at local Missouri shows.

He also joined the black metal band Abigail Williams in 2010, as frontman Ken Sorceron confirmed in an incredulous Facebook post. “Omg!!!!! This guy was in Abigail Williams for like a week in 2010,” Sorceron wrote. “The other day I literally thought to myself that he looked suspiciously a lot like the dude but then I thought there was no way that was him but it’s actually him. I feel like I won the lottery or something. Man this explains so much…”

Although he has declined to comment on the saga until now, Jered Eames, the man behind it all, has now broken his silence on Twitter. “What is Fake News?” he writes. “I turned an empty room into an international headline. If you are reading this, you are part of the illusion.” The tweet includes the hashtags #Marketing, #Psychology, #SocialMedia, #BreakingTheWorld, and #MusicIndustry. Really makes you think.

What is Fake News? I turned an empty room into an international headline. If you are reading this, you are part of the illusion.#Marketing #Psychology #SocialMedia #FakeNews #Threatin #BreakingTheWorld #MusicIndustry @NBCNews @BBCNews @JoeRogan @RollingStone @billboard pic.twitter.com/vsvHHPDpze

— Threatin (@JeredThreatin) November 14, 2018