Teen Convinces TikTok He Sold His House for Travis Scott Tickets

Charles Curle, the 17-year-old who convinced the internet he’d sold his house to pay for tickets to Travis Scott's since-canceled Utopia concert in Egypt, has revealed how he pulled off the prank.

The North Carolina native posted a TikTok video on July 25 which showed him standing in front of a house, dangling a ring of keys next to a for sale sign with a “Sold” sticker slapped over it. “I actually did it,” says a caption within the video. It then cuts to a shot from an airplane looking down onto the Pyramids of Giza, where Scott planned to hold the event. The stunt captured the imaginations of users, who quickly made the video a viral hit. Currently, it sits at 6.7 million views.

Recently, Curle explained to Rolling Stone how he produced the ruse. The young videographer was aided by his brother, who shot the footage of Curle in front of the home. The sign was created with visual effects, which is Curle’s area of expertise. Shots apparently from an airplane looking down onto the pyramids were rendered the same way. The entire production took just 10 minutes.

Curle admits to not being a Travis Scott fan, but rather a creator who saw a good opportunity. “When I had made the post, I wanted to make sure it was crazy and unbelievable. So, I feel like that’s what made it so compelling, like this is super-high stakes,” Curle said. “No one else is really doing that. So I think that’s what really catches people’s attention and gets so much traction on the platform.”

Already an accomplished producer and VFX artist, Curle said he is hoping to continue his pursuits through college. “When I graduate, I want to start learning CGI. I want to work with big name companies that create films and different things like that. So I want to get a major in business and then a minor in film, and then start an editing agency.”