A TikTok Star Says He Got 'Sliced' With A Knife & 'Almost Died' In An Anti-Asian Attack
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Teen TikTok star @McPlayGT says he was attacked with a knife and "almost died" after a run-in with a stranger in New York City earlier this week.
Michael Chen, 17, told his 4.9 million followers on TikTok that a man attacked him while he was out with some friends, and he suffered a slash to the back of his neck that put him in hospital.
"I almost died in New York City," he told his followers in a video that's been watched over 2.4 million times. He also told NBC News that the attacker called him a racist slur and he suspects it was an anti-Asian attack.
Chen explained in his storytime video that he had just left a restaurant with some girls and his girlfriend Claire, a fellow TikTok star with 1.5 million followers on her account @umitsclaire.
@mcplaygt thanks for everyone asking how i’m doing, spreadin awareness on my ig so please share this. #stopasianhate
They walked past a group of guys at around 1 a.m., and that's when trouble followed them.
One of the guys "was trying to hit on Claire and her friends," said Chen in the video.
"All the girls started saying like I was their boyfriend, but the guy was like, 'He's not your boyfriend.'"
Chen says when they walked away from the guy, he followed them and struck Chen with a knife.
"After like 30 or 40 seconds later, from behind, he just smacks my neck with like, some knife."
Chen then showed the stitched-up gash on the back of his head where the knife cut him behind his ear.
After the attack, his friends allegedly heard the attacker call him an Asian slur.
"I'm glad to be alive right now," he wrote on Instagram.
Chen says he filed a police report but no arrests had been announced as of Tuesday.
