When a man in his underwear was first spotted vaping, dancing, and hanging banners from an exit sign over a Los Angeles freeway, some witnesses who called the police worried he was suicidal.
Mind you, this was at 8am, already a bumper-to-bumper time slot on any LA freeway. But traffic came to a grinding halt while the guy hung posters that read, "Fight pollution not each other," "Give a hoot, don’t pollute," and "Dephree," this last one a dead giveaway that this was actually a publicity stunt.
Dephree is the stage name of 29-year-old rapper Alexander Dunn, who was planning on using images of his stunt for a music video. According to the Los Angeles Times:
The man, who was identified by police as 29-year-old Alexander Dunn, was booked on suspicion of delaying a police officer, trespassing on state property and failure to obey a regulatory sign.
Dunn, who performs under the stage name Dephree, was being recorded throughout the incident, his producer told The Times. They planned to release the images in a music video Wednesday evening, said King Graint...
The man scaled the exit sign for southbound 6th Street, Wilshire Boulevard and downtown 4th Street offramps. All southbound lanes on the 110 freeway leading into downtown were closed by 9:30 a.m.
Witnesses said the man was alternating between yelling about himself, love and God, and freestyle rapping. He also took breaks and would sit down and vape.
By 10am police officers talked Dunn into ending the spectacle, and the rapper came down in style, performing a backflip as he leapt onto an inflated mattress below.
He was booked on "suspicion of delaying a police officer, trespassing on state property and failure to obey a regulatory sign."
Dephree might be a hero to some, but they have now closed traffic on the 110s, it appears. pic.twitter.com/9Qk2uJiAwK
— Benjamin Oreskes🦅 (@boreskes) June 27, 2018
Dephree has just done a backflip of the sign. pic.twitter.com/d5qh6qybQ6
— Benjamin Oreskes🦅 (@boreskes) June 27, 2018
