That Reporter Who Made That Kid Cry Checked In With Him Two Years Later
By Aimee LutkinUpdated Oct. 30 2018, 3:01 p.m. ET
Two years ago, 4-year-old Andrew Macias got interviewed by KTLA reporter Courtney Friel as she did a short human interest story about the first day of preschool at City Terrace Elementary School in East Los Angeles. She very innocently asked Macias if he would miss his mom during at school and with a child's bravado he declared, "No!"
Then you can see what happened. It's not pretty. Normally, it's not funny to wallow in the suffering of someone else, especially a child who couldn't handle the pressure of a big-time TV appearance, but there's something hilarious about the fact that he bawls out for apparently no reason. Great, now I feel bad for laughing at the little guy.
Macias getting weepy as he thought about missing his mom quickly went viral, and Friel became a villain in the Internet's eyes for making children cry. On KTLA's Facebook page, the video got 70 million views alone, and Macias' crying face got turned into memes for the ages.
He even got invited onto a Tosh.O segment, where he cried:
And into an eBay commercial:
Friel decided to interview Macias again to see if viral fame has been too difficult a burden for such a sweet-hearted child. Macias is kind of famous, but seems chill with it, admitting that he gets his photo taken a lot. Friel also tried to clear her name by saying she had no intention of making Macias cry, and his mother was standing right by her shoulder when the whole thing went down. She also says she had a kid the same age and had no idea what would happen.
Macias is starting the first grade on Tuesday, but this time when Macias asked if he'd miss his mom he openly admitted, "Yes." And he didn't even cry. It's always better to admit your true feelings.
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