R&B singer Omarion on Omicron confusion: 'I am an artist, not a variant'
The artist is tired of getting confused for the virus.
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
R&B musician Omarion's name may start with an "Om" and end with an "on," but he wants it known that he's got nothing to do with the latest coronavirus variant, Omicron.
"Hi, this is Omarion. I am an artist, not a variant," he says in a TikTok video posted Jan. 1. "So please be aware that if you just so happen to run into me on the street, you don't have to isolate for five days."
He also made a video for New Year's Rockin' Eve where he jokes that his lawyers made him read a statement noting he is not the virus variant.
"The last time I had to do this was in 2000 when everyone confused Y2K with B2K," he says, referring to his role as lead singer for the boy band B2K, which stands for "Boys of the New Millennium."
.@Omarion, not to be confused with anyone or anything else, is here to wish you a happy and safe New Year! ❤️ #RockinEve pic.twitter.com/A2PcKeTtVQ
— New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (@RockinEve) January 1, 2022
He's also changed his TikTok biography to read, "Omarion the Entertainer not the variant."
And while he didn't cite any specific instances of his name getting confused with the virus, he made two more videos about the mixup. "While it's important not to touch me and keep your distance, cause you know that's how it's supposed to be, you don't need a negative test to dance to my music," he says in one.
Take heart, Omarion. Early in the coronavirus pandemic, it seemed certain Corona beer sales would suffer due to the name association. But CBS reports that after a slight dip in sales in the early summer of 2020, sales of Corona beer actually rose.