Charlie Jones, the boyfriend of journalist Betty Kyallo, has shared an unsettling experience on social media, revealing that he has received death threats while playing Grand Theft Auto (GTA). The threats were delivered through an anonymous message on Instagram, sent by a user with the handle “walkudowntilluexpire@affccb.org,” who ominously wrote, “You are next.”
In response to the chilling message, Jones, known for his lighthearted and confident demeanor, joked about the situation on his Instagram stories, saying, “Who got a GTA bounty on my name?” The reference to a “bounty” is a common feature in GTA Online, where players can place a monetary reward on another player’s head, which can be claimed by other players by eliminating the targeted individual.
In GTA, the bounty system adds an element of danger and competition. Once a player has a bounty placed on them, they must survive for a set period—typically 24 in-game hours, or around 48 minutes in real-time—before they can keep the money. The bounties can be set by either non-player characters (NPCs) or other players, using in-game characters like Lester Crest or through various actions, including stealing NPC vehicles.
Although the threat was delivered in a virtual world, Jones’s lighthearted response seems to indicate he isn’t taking the situation too seriously, turning it into an opportunity for some humor with his followers. While such online threats can sometimes be unsettling, it’s clear that Jones is using humor to deflect the tension.
It remains unclear whether the person behind the message was simply engaging in a prank or if it was part of a broader online trolling incident. Regardless, Jones’s response highlights the lighter side of navigating virtual gaming environments.
