If I told you that this episode of Catfish involved a celebrity, you would probably assume was about an imposter using a star’s identity to catfish someone. However, Season 4 Episode 13 “Prophet and Trinity,” actually involves a Grammy-nominated artist being catfished by a regular girl.
Nev and Max are introduced to Prophet, who was part of the award-winning group Nappy Roots. Prophet is just starting to use social media to get better connected to his fans since leaving the music group, but dived into it when he began talking online to a girl named Trinity.
Although they both live in close vicinity of each other in Kentucky, they have never met and have only interacted over message or on the phone. However, Prophet didn’t let this stop him from falling for Trinity, as he felt she was a completely “genuine” person.
Even if he is new to social media, Prophet was aware that he could be getting catfished. Therefore, he had asked Trinity in the past to snap pictures facing a certain way so that she could prove that it was really her behind the computer. So far, she has been able to follow his directions and prove herself to seeming be who she says she is.
Nev and Max head down to Kentucky and meet Prophet, who is working in the recording studio. The rapper reveals to the crew that Trinity had told him that she was a model.
Knowing this, the guys are able to reverse image search her and soon find out that the girl in the photo is Jasmine Sanders. Jasmine is in fact a well-known model that previously dated Chris Brown, but there is no sign of “Trinity” from the images. Nev and Max end up video-chatting with Jasmine, who has no idea that someone had been using her pictures in this way, although she admits that a lot of people do use her pictures, especially fan accounts (as she is a full-time model).
Nev and Max also got the phone number that Trinity had given to prophet and through searching it, they uncover that the number is linked to a girl named Crystal.
After a day of snooping, Nev and Max head back over to Prophet’s house and reveal all they have found. Prophet is disappointed as he quickly realizes that this beautiful model he thought he was talking to has no connection to the person he has really become close with.
Nev then takes the initiative and calls the phone number linked to Crystal. He winds up leaving a message, but the next day they receive a message from her saying she is willing to talk. Eventually, Nev reaches her over the phone and confronts her about stealing Jasmine’s pictures. Right away, Crystal is notably embarrassed and starts stumbling, as she looks for an explanation.
Nev ends up getting Crystal to agree to meet up with him, Max and Prophet since she lives close.
As the Prophet and the Catfish crew wait at a nearby park for Crystal, they speculate as every stranger passes by that could potentially be her. Of course, the one girl that Prophet says there is absolutely no way it could be her, turns out to be Crystal.
The pictures she had been representing herself as online show a young, African-American model, while Crystal reveals herself to be a notably older, curvier, Caucasian woman. It’s safe to say Prophet is shocked and embarrassed, as he remarks that you really “can be anyone you want over the Internet.”
Sorry Prophet, even Grammy-nominated musicians aren’t immune to the deceitfulness that fills the Internet.
Confused, Prophet asks Crystal how she was able to send pictures facing certain directions, seemingly proving that it was really she. Crystal tells him that she had numerous photos of Jasmine and it just so happened she had one that matched his directions each time.
She goes on to reveal that she made the Trinity account to creep on her boyfriend’s profile, as she felt she was being blocked from certain people commenting on his page. From there, she just continued to use the page and ended up feeling as though she was helping Prophet when pretending to be Trinity.
For all you Catfish out there: There is no situation where you pretending to be a totally different person and duping someone is helpful in the bigger picture.
By the end of the episode Prophet comes to terms that Crystal is not the model he had been fantasizing about, however, she did help him through some tough times. He acknowledges this but lets her know that their relationship will never be the same.
This episode of Catfish presented a new twist to the typical celebrity catfish scenario, however, most of the other aspects fell under the general elements we see on the show (i.e. stolen pictures, no video-chatting, lives close but never meets).
From this episode, I think there is one valuable lesson…it is not that hard to do a reverse photo check. By reverse searching the images on “Trinity,” within seconds Nev and Max were able to determine she was model Jasmine Saunders. Therefore, whenever in doubt, throw an image into Google’s reverse image search and see what comes up!
Better safe, then sorry and maybe you won’t end up having to get Nev and Max to do it on national TV.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
This season feels like MTV is trying to shake up the Catfish ratings, and sadly this episode just felt like a pure PR stunt as Prophet let it be known that coincidentally he had an album about to drop. The non-profit that Crystal was helping him with was a GoFundMe account, but his comment about police brutality didn’t have that much effect as it’s only raised about $95 since he appeared on Catfish. I would like to be wrong, but there’s been too many episodes where it just feels forced for ratings.
about catfish: the tv show
From the producers of the acclaimed documentary film, “Catfish,” comes a new MTV series that brings together couples who’ve interacted solely through their LCD screens. Over the course of months or years – these romantics have become smitten – but what will happen when they meet in real life for the first time?
In each episode, with the guidance and help of the star of the “Catfish” movie, Nev Schulman, and his filmmaking pal, Max Joseph, a hopeful romantic partner will go on an emotional journey to discover the truth about their significant other. Has that object of affection been telling the truth? Will true love truly blossom? When that fateful knock on the front door finally comes – only one thing is certain – that these incredible voyages will be filled with mystery, uncertainty, forgiveness, joy, and sometimes, even shocking revelations.
catfish [kat-fish] verb: To pretend to be someone you’re not online by posting false information, such as someone else’s pictures, on social media sites usually with the intention of getting someone to fall in love with you.