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Did The '1 Guy 1 Jar' Man Aleksey Tatarov Die In Ukraine? Fact-Checking The Death Rumor
A viral rumor has been spreading online lately that Aleksey Tatarov, the person in the infamous "1 Guy 1 Jar" shock video video, has died in the war in Ukraine.
Before you rush to press F to pay respects to one of the biggest shock content stars the internet has ever witnessed, let's review the rumor and everything that hints it might not be true.
Who Is Aleksey Tatarov?
Aleksey Tatarov, better known by his nickname Alex13031969, is the person who made the infamous "1 Guy, 1 Jar" video. The video, which was uploaded online in March 2008, depicts a naked man slowly sitting on a glass jar as it enters his rectum and explodes inside of it, with the second half of the video showing the man stoically extracting glass shards from his bleeding behind.
Since 2008, the graphic clip has remained one of the most infamous pieces of shock content online and has been referenced in countless memes.
It didn't take long for the internet to find out who the person in the video was — on the contrary, Alex13031969 didn't hesitate to speak about his "hobby" and even give out interviews to those willing to ask.
In 2009, Tatarov said in an interview that he was 40 years old and living in a Russian city and that he had been inserting things inside himself for 12 years. According to information gathered by Russian internet culture MediaWiki Lurkmore, Aleksey Tatarov has since been living in Ukraine.
Who Started The '1 Guy 1 Jar' Guy Death Rumor? Is The Rumor True?
On June 25th, 2024, Russian Telegram channel 2ch, associated with the largest Russian imageboard of the same name and known for occasionally posting unverified information, reported that "according to Ukrainian social media," Alekset Tatarov was involuntarily drafted in Ukraine and died in the combat zone.
"Ukrainian citizen Aleksey Tatarov, known for a video in which he sits on a jar before it explodes inside of his rectum, has died in the combat zone.
Ukrainian social media are saying that he was involuntarily drafted, and died from a shard wound. Zelensky did not provide official comment regarding his death."
No information verifying that Aleksei Tatarov was indeed drafted to fight in the war, let alone died, could be discovered on Ukrainian social media or elsewhere.
Moreover, the on-the-nose implication that Tatarov died "from a shard wound" and the snarky comment that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not comment on Tatarov's death both indicate that the post might be nothing more than a hoax.
Additionally, considering that Tatarov was born in 1969 and must be 55 years old now, it's doubtful that the photograph of a much younger man in a military uniform is not a Photoshop edit.
Since the June 25th Telegram post, no other media reported that one Aleksey Tatarov died in Ukraine, so take the shady report about his untimely death with a huge grain of salt.
For the full history of the '1 Guy 1 Jar' death rumor, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.