A veteran shark diver says a viral video of a porn model being attacked by a shark is fake — and he knows it because she contacted him to find out how to fake a shark bite.
Bryce Rohrer, who works at Florida Shark Diving, told RealClearLife last week that he had been contacted by the model, Molly Cavalli, a few weeks prior to the video going viral.
“[Molly] said ‘we want to do a film shoot with a few scantily clad women diving with sharks,’ and we were kind of skeptical of even that,” Rohrer said. “Then once we started getting the facts of what they actually wanted to do…we declined.”
He added that Cavalli had contacted him over text message asking for details on how, for example, to make a shark bite look authentic.
“She basically spelled out, ‘We want to do this fake bite, this is what we want it to look like,’” Rohrer said.
Cavalli is a model for the adult social network CamSoda.
In the video, Cavalli is submerged in a shark cage in order to show off CamSoda’s first live underwater broadcast. At one point, she sticks her foot outside the cage, where it allegedly gets bitten by a lemon shark.
“Don’t worry though, Molly is doing just fine,” the description on the video read. “She had to get 20 stitches but she is in good spirits and grateful for her quick recovery.”
Other experts weighed in on the video, noting peculiarities in how the footage was shot. For instance, the people filming take caution to film Cavalli’s dive from every angle… except when it comes to the actual attack.
Branding expert Michael Bilello — who also happens to be a diver, fisherman and Iraq combat veteran — told TheWrap soon after the video went viral that the gash shown on camera doesn’t match a typical shark bite.
“It’s fishy, no pun intended,” Bilello said. “I call bulls– on the video as a certified diver and former Marine officer.”
TheWrap directly asked CamSoda weeks ago if the video was fake. It responded with two statements, neither of which answered the question. A company statement focused on the camera technology used on the shoot, and a statement from Cavalli thanked fans for their support.
“Luckily it only required 20 stitches. I’m fine. It’s not that bad,” she said. “I had a great experience anyway and now I have a story to tell forever.”
But Rohrer said the stunt has the potential to bring harm to sharks. Florida Shark Diving works to promote positive messages and educate people about sharks, fighting back against stigmas that they are deadly predators that threaten humans.
“So many people these days are working towards saving sharks and the environment is in such a focus right now…when someone comes up with a fake shark attack it just kind of is a blow to all that work,” Rohrer said.
CamSoda and Cavalli for comment did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.