‘I have a handicap.’ Swiss DJ responds to TikTok commenters who said he was on drugs
A DJ from Switzerland who has a medical condition is speaking out after TikTok users commented on a viral video of him at a music festival and said he was on drugs.
The video, taken at Street Parade, a techno festival in Zurich, Switzerland, shows the DJ, Marcel Kugler, dancing in a crowd and holding his phone up as electronic music plays in the background.
The video garnered nearly 8 million views and 6,000 comments, many of which made fun of the DJ’s movements and said he was on drugs.
“he’s done a tad too much,” wrote one user.
Another commenter wrote “The walking dead.”
Kugler responded by sharing the video on his own TikTok.
“That’s me, and I have a handicap,” he wrote. “No drugs.”
In an interview with Fox35, Kugler said that he has an unknown medical condition that affects his speech and movements.
“We don’t know exactly what my handicap is,” he told the outlet in an email. “The doctors never found anything out, so no precise diagnosis.”
The 29-year-old DJ has had tics since he was in first grade, and they have gotten worse over the years, according to the Switzerland Times.
Kugler, who is married and has two daughters, told the Swiss outlet that he is passionate about stopping bullying, which is why he decided to speak out after the video went viral.
“I want to show myself and not hide,” he told the outlet. “That’s the only way to break down prejudices.”
In another video shared on his TikTok, he posted a caption thanking everyone who defended him from the mocking comments.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t care anyway, but there are many who are not that strong,” he wrote. “Think about it instead of commenting on something without a brain.”
Many of his fans commented words of support on his TikTok videos.
“You are wonderful,” wrote one user. “I hope to see you performing live one day.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 1:17 PM with the headline "‘I have a handicap.’ Swiss DJ responds to TikTok commenters who said he was on drugs."