That incredibly gross spider-in-ear video was thankfully, thankfully, a big old fake

Warning: Not safe for arachnophobes!

Bruce Branit posted an incredibly gross-looking video of what seemed to be a spider crawling around inside his ear over the weekend.

On his YouTube channel he explained: "Swam at Lake of the Ozarks last weekend and got a super painful ear infection. Totally blocked ear canal. Tried to use my phone's camera to see if I could see anything. Found this!"

The video instantly went viral - with over a million views in a few days - and several media outlets reported on it.

Debate raged over whether the video could possibly have been real. But there was one clear giveaway. The name of Branit's YouTube channel: BranitFX and Lucamax Pictures.

That's right, Branit is actually an Emmy-nominated special effects maestro who's worked on shows like Breaking Bad and Lost. He later confessed it was a fake via a blog post on his website.

“I knew it was gross and horrific, and those things tend to have an audience on the internet,” he told BuzzFeed. "But I was surprised how many people, and reporters, never stopped to question it. Especially since it was posted on a channel whose other work are all visual effects.”

Well played Bruce, well played.

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