The coronavirus pandemic has spawned any number of internet memes and “jokes,” but perhaps none more infamous that the “penis prank.” Basically, an unsuspecting user receives a text or email with a link to “breaking news” on the supposed latest developments in the crisis. But clicking on that link reveals nothing but a nude photo of a broad-shouldered, African-American gentleman with a strikingly large penis. Hence the term “penis prank.”
But the man in that photo was indeed a real person, and one who had spent a brief time in the adult industry, with several minor gay porn video credits to his name. VICE reporter Alex Zaragoza discovered the name he used was “Wood.” (AVN spoke to Walter Smith, who shot Wood for Pantheon Productions.) Now Zaragoza has taken a deeper dive into the man’s life and background, revealing that he worked as a bouncer at a San Francisco nightclub and was briefly a pro football player before, sadly, he died of a heart attack in 2016, at age 45.
He was also a dad to two children, and a deacon at his Baptist church who frequently did outreach to the local homeless community, an avid San Francisco Giants fan, and an instructor at Football Swagger, a youth sports camp that emphasized “motivational resources to inspire growth and development.”
In her VICE reporting, which may be accessed at this link, Zaragoza interviews Wood's girlfriend, Heather Alegria, who said that she was not surprised when she learned that the nude photo was circulating online. The image had been floating around various online message boards since 2012.
Alegria told VICE that when she asked him about it, Wood admitted to her that he had led a second, secret life. In that other existence, he frequented San Francisco sex clubs where he was known as a “bull,” having consensual sex with the wives of other men as the husbands looked on.
It was at that time that he was offered the opportunity to shoot a series of porn videos—an opportunity he took, needing the money to maintain ownership of his family home that was being threatened by some financial difficulties he was then experiencing, due to an acrimonious breakup, according to the VICE reporting.
But Alegria said that she never judged her boyfriend for his double life, and that the revelations actually deepened their relationship.
“He found that I was not a judgmental person,” she told Zaragoza. “I never wanted him to feel ashamed. I never wanted him to feel in trouble."
She was shocked by his sudden death on December 11, 2016, from a heart attack later determined to be caused by an enlarged heart. Otherwise, Alegria todl VICE, he was "healthy as a horse," a healthy eater and only light drinker who confined himself to beer. Nor did he do drugs, though she admitted that he had “dabbled” with steroid use earlier in his life.
According to Zaragoza, Wood's family still owes $1,500 in outstanding funeral expenses. His online image as part of the coronavirus “penis prank” has become something of a icon, with his face appearing on various T-shirts and merchandise.
Comedian Tom Segura, who has marketed a line of shirts with Wood's face emblazoned across the chest, now says that he plans to donate the profits from shirt sales to the man’s family.
Photo via GoFundMe
