Balloon Boy Blowing Up Again

By Erin Bartynski – University of Minnesota

Balloon Boy Update! Just when you forgot about it, Balloon Boy is back. Well, his crazy parents are. Richard Heene and his wife Mayumi were sentenced today for, as the prosecutor said best, “wast(ing) a lot of man power and a lot of money in wanting to get himself some publicity.” Dad is facing 90 days in jail, and Mom got it a bit easier with 20. Both will then face four years of probation. They also have already been ordered to pay $42,000 to compensate the poor rescue workers whose job it was to try and save the kid. However, the actual cost of the search has been estimated at around $2 million.

For all my Googling and Twitter-searching, however, I haven’t found any evidence that the kid is going to be or has been punished at all. But then, come to think of it, after throwing up (TWICE) on live television, being forever labeled as “Balloon Boy” for the rest of his life, becoming a trending topic on Twitter (TWICE), and being named Falcon in the first place are all punishment enough.

However, a disturbing rap video on YouTube of him and his brothers rapping something about being “Pussified” might be the worst embarrassment and exploitation of it all. Most of what he says is indecipherable because of their super squeaky voices, but what is clear is just nasty. Watch it here and when you’re done, read the Balloon Boy Wikipedia article to reminisce and then say goodbye to the best hoax of 2009.