The Chinese billionaire who irked scores of homeless New Yorkers by failing to deliver a promise to give them cash is facing accusations that he faked an ice bucket challenge.
Chen Guangbiao — the self-styled “biggest philanthropist” in China — claimed he spent 30 minutes in a plastic bin of freezing water before donating more than $165,000 to fund medical research, according to Central European News.
“As China’s chief philanthropist and number one low-carbon environmentalist it is my honor to help people afflicted with motor neuron disease,” Guangbiao proclaimed on the social media site, Weibo.
“If anyone can sit in this ice water longer than my 30 minutes, I will donate another one million Yuan,” he posted along with a video.
But eagle-eyed observers claim the eccentric recycling magnate staged the frigid challenge — by using big chunks of fake acrylic ice cubes in the video, which was filmed in Nanjing.
They pointed out the “ice” sank in the water instead of floating.
“Human beings can only stay in ice water for a few minutes. At the beginning, they must have poured warm water and fake ice onto Chen,” slammed on online critic, Xian Yang.
Guangbiao, who’s notorious for flashy media stunts, fired back, saying his martial arts skills helped him stay tough in the cold water.
“I used to practice Kung Fu at the famous Shaolin Temple, so my health is much better than most other people,” he explained.
“The bin isn’t very big and as Chen is quite chubby his body takes up so much space there isn’t room for much water and ice anyway,” he said, speaking about himself in a weird third-person joke.
In June, Guangbiao treated four busloads of homeless people to lunch at The Loeb Boathouse in Central Park after posting an ad offering the meal and $300 cash.
But many guests were angry after he failed to fork over the cash.