It's impossible to tell when Twitter's next major drama will erupt, but once it does there's no way to avoid it.
On Tuesday, November 10, Republican Dean Browning, a former county commissioner from Pennsylvania, tweeted out an incredibly strange message claiming to be a "black gay guy."
Browning is neither Black nor gay.
Many online speculated that Browning had forgotten to log into a "burner" account, where he most likely posed as a Black man in support of his own posts.
Needless to say, Twitter went wild over the strange mistake.
Shortly thereafter, Browning returned to Twitter to claim he was actually quoting a direct message he'd received.
Twitter was doubtful about the truth of Browning's claim.
Sleuths online quickly tracked down an account named "Dan Purdy," whose avatar is an animated Black man who spends most of his time online supporting Browning.
Most people, at this point, believed they'd found Browning's burner account.
That's when an unexpected twist arrived in the story.
The Dan Purdy account posted a video of a gay, Black man, saying:
"I sent that message to Dean, Dean accidentally posted it somehow, that's the end of the story. No, he's not a sock puppet. No, I'm not a bot."
But the saga didn't end there.
Reverse image searches of "Dan Purdy's" face revealed an extreme resemblance to William Holte, aka Byl Holte, the adopted son of singer Patti LaBelle.
Holte has posted multiple articles on Medium claiming to be an "anti-feminist TV critic."
Ever stranger, the "Dan Purdy" identity apparently owned by Byl Holte has previously been active on other accounts that later switched races.
Twitter had some trouble keeping up with the insanity of the Dean Browning controversy.
This is the kind of bizarre tale one would expect to end 2020 on.
Many felt a full summary of the drama was warranted.
One thing is certain. Next time, Dean Browning will think twice before "quoting" his DM's without proper attribution.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram