Criminal Caught After Cutting Off 37 Man Buns in 1 Day?

On Sept. 9, 2024, an X user posted a screenshot purportedly showing an online news article about a man who was caught after cutting off 37 man buns of unsuspecting men in one day. The image included an alleged mugshot of the perpetrator, who was claimed to have said he “was doing the Lord’s work.”

Man buns are a hairstyle where a man’s hair is drawn back into a tight coil at the back or top of the head.

The X user, whose post had amassed more than 47,000 views as of this writing, wrote: “Sometimes, even the lord needs some assistance.“

(@Alphafox78/X)

Some fellow X users appeared to believe the story, find it humorous or even lauded the alleged perpetrator for his actions. One person replied: “Which city was he in? lemme guess…Portland,” while another responded: “Is there a GoFundMe for this fine young fellow?”

Similar posts appeared on Facebook in September and YouTube in August.

However, in short, the story was not real. It was created by a site that described itself as “a fabricated satirical newspaper and comedy website,” which is why we rated this claim as “Originated as Satire.”

The reported news article, dated Feb. 10, 2023, appeared on a site called Daily News Reported (archived). According to the article:

Los Angeles, CA- Craig Ledbetter (33), has been placed into custody after reports came in from all over Downtown Los Angeles that a man had been seen running up to other men and cutting off their “Man Buns”. Dozen of men filled the police station to press charges after their Top-Knots or Man Buns were removed by Craig Ledbetter. “He attacked me and aggressively removed my Top-Knot. I was in fear for my life from this mad man. It will take me years to regrow my hair. I hope he gets the punishment he deserves for wounding me so viciously.”said a victim of Ledbetter’s.

Shortly after being published, variations of the rumor spread on social mediasuch as on X, TikTok and Reddit.

But Daily News Reported’s About Us page stated that its content was not meant to be taken seriously. It read:

Daily News Reported is a manufactured satirical newspaper and comedy website. Daily News Reported uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.

Daily News Reported is not intended for people under 18 years of age.

There were no credible news reports about any man being caught on Feb. 10, 2023, for cutting off 37 man buns in the space of a day.

A reverse image search of the mugshot showed the man was not named Craig Ledbetter. Instead, he was identified as Jesse Webb, who was arrested in August 2017 after rushing onstage at a Britney Spears concert at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, and performing a front flip. Tabloid news outlet TMZ reported at the time that he faced two charges, one count of battery and one count of disorderly conduct.

Additionally, Las Vegas local news station KTNV Channel 13 posted the following television report on YouTube in August 2017:

Snopes has previously addressed similar satirical rumors about unwanted haircuts, including the claim that multimillionaire T. Boone Pickens left Oklahoma State University football coach Mike Gundy $30 in his will to get a haircut.

For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.