The man who forced a Jamaica-bound flight to turn back in a stunt about the Coronavirus is an aspiring Toronto rapper who said he pulled the prank in an effort to get famous.

“Going viral goes bad,” James Potok posted on his Facebook page Tuesday, attaching a story about the Monday incident that caused a delay for two WestJet flights.

Potok, 28, has been charged with one count of mischief and breach of recognizance, according to a media release from Peel Regional Police.

Potok, who lives in Vaughan, was one of 243 passengers who were headed to Montego Bay from Toronto when he stood up and made the “unfounded claim” about having been to China recently and contracting the Coronavirus, police said. The flight crew decided to return to Pearson Airport.

Upon landing, Potok was medically examined and was deemed to be “symptom free,” according to police.

WestJet had scheduled two additional flights for Tuesday to make up for the previously cancelled flights as a result of the incident.

Potok, whose artist name is Potok Philippe, has some of his music listed on Spotify and Apple Music with hundreds of followers. His YouTube channel has just under 1,000 subscribers.

“I was going to post it to Instagram, send it to 6ixbuzz so it goes viral,” Potok said in an interview with 680news on Tuesday, referring to a popular Instagram account.

He added he was “very, very sorry” for his ignorance, that he simply wanted to get attention and didn’t think his actions were illegal since it’s something he has done in the past.

Many comments on his social media accounts called him out for causing an unnecessary delay in search of attention.

Potok’s mother, Eve, told the Star in an email that she hasn’t been able to speak with her son since the incident, and added that the family was against his behaviour on the airplane.

“We do not condone James behavior (sic) and we do not encourage these kinds of posts to engage in social media. Now that it is over James will have to answer to his behavior,” she wrote.

Potok is scheduled to appear in a Brampton court next Monday.

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