The public feud between Flavor Flav and Chuck D reached a boiling point in early March when Public Enemy announced that Flav was fired from the group. As it turns out, the whole dust-up appears to have been an elaborate April Fools ruse to help promote a new album from Chuck’s project Enemy Radio. Loud Is Not Enough is out now (listen below), and it features a single with both Chuck and Flav called “Food as a Machine Gun.”

In an interview with Talib Kweli on the Uproxx podcast People’s Party (recorded on March 10), Chuck said he was inspired by Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds hoax. He outlined some recent discussions with Flav about public opinion of both men. “We felt that over the past few years, Flavor’s stock was low,” Chuck said. “Anybody that could take a shot at him could get a good shot at him.” Meanwhile, Chuck said that his own stock had been on the rise due to Prophets of Rage’s success. Chuck then described how he and Flav apparently created a public breakup narrative while collaborating on new music and staying in contact behind the scenes. Watch the interview excerpt below.

To recap, here’s how it played out in the public eye: After it was announced that Public Enemy Radio (an offshoot group comprised of Chuck D, DJ Lord, Jahi and the S1Ws) would play a Bernie Sanders rally in Los Angeles on March 1, Flav issued a cease and desist letter to the Bernie Sanders campaign alleging that his likeness was used without his permission. Public Enemy released a statement announcing that Flav was fired, and Flav responded by criticizing Chuck on social media.

Chuck implied that media coverage of this back-and-forth was part of their plan: