The fake video clip gained popularity because there have been multiple confirmed incidents of orcas hurting or killing their trainers in captivity. These tragedies have been extensively chronicled and remembered in documentaries like Blackfish. Some well-known orca attacks that happened are listed below:

Viral video circulating on the Internet purports that marine trainer Jessica Radcliffe was killed by an orca at Pacific Blue Marine Park but fact-checks prove the story to be completely fabricated.