The Banksy x BNE Collaboration for World Water Day Is Actually Fake

BNE tricked us all.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Street artist BNE announced on Thursday that he would be collaborating with the infamous Banksy for his "Artists 4 Water" campaign, an international endeavor to raise awareness about the world water crisis in partnership with the nonprofit charity: water, with a series of T-shirts. The collaboration would've been Banksy's first retail product ever, but Animal New York revealed today that the collab was a fake.

There have been numerous Banksy impostors and scams riding off the street artist's fame, but this one had us fooled, partially because "Artists 4 Water" has an impressive roster of collaborators already, including FAILE, Invader, and Shepard Fairey

Today, BNE released the alleged "collaboration"—500 blank T-shirts with the stipulation, "You do not get to see the artwork on this tee until it arrives at your door." The shirts are sold out online, which shows that people will buy just about anything with Banksy's name attached. At least 100 percent of the profits went to charity.

RELATED: Banksy Collaborates With BNE for a World Water Day Surprise
RELATED: Banksy's Fake Twitter Account Is Trying to Sell Banksy T-Shirts

[via Animal New York]

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