Çenet maintains he had no warning. The WHO announcement came the exact same day as the wedding, and he's been transparent about his timeline since going public. He got off the ship April 24 in St. Helena—well before anyone knew there was a problem—and has shown zero symptoms of hantavirus.
Online, it's a different story. Critics are dragging him for prioritizing a wedding appearance over public safety, with some questioning whether he even considered backing out once news broke. The real question: did anyone warn guests they were mingling with someone who'd been on a ship connected to three deaths?
Çenet attended the Istanbul wedding on May 3, 2026—the same day WHO publicly announced its hantavirus investigation into MV Hondius. Three people died aboard: two Dutch nationals who contracted the virus during a pre-boarding bird-watching excursion, and one German passenger.
Çenet may have technically been in the clear timing-wise, but showing up to a crowded indoor event hours after a global health alert? That's either terrible timing or terrible judgment—and the internet isn't letting him pretend otherwise.
If you partied with YouTuber Ruhi Çenet at a wedding in Istanbul earlier this month, you might want to schedule a doctor's appointment—immediately. The Turkish content creator is facing serious backlash after attending a crowded celebration on May 3, just hours before the World Health Organization publicly announced its investigation into a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship he had been traveling on. Çenet was one of 147 passengers and crew members aboard the MV Hondius when tragedy struck.
The vessel—deployed for an "Atlantic expedition" departing April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina toward Spain's Canary Islands—became the center of a WHO probe after three people died during the voyage. According to officials, a Dutch couple contracted hantavirus during a bird-watching excursion before ever setting foot on the ship. Both they and a German national perished as the outbreak spread, with symptoms including fever and severe muscle aches characteristic of the rodent-borne disease.
The timing is what has tongues wagging across social media. Çenet shared with NBC News that he disembarked April 24 in St. Helena—a remote island in the South Atlantic—before the full scope of the outbreak became public knowledge. He insists he has displayed no symptoms and is currently quarantined while monitoring his health status.
For his documentary project chronicling the South Atlantic archipelago, Çenet had been documenting the expedition, making him a high-profile passenger caught in an unprecedented public health nightmare. When a photo from the Istanbul wedding surfaced online, internet sleuths immediately connected the dots—and the criticism came swift and brutal. Critics pointed out that attending any large gathering mere hours after a global health alert was issued raised serious questions about judgment and responsibility. Çenet took to Instagram to defend himself, claiming he only attended because the WHO had not yet announced its probe when he arrived at the wedding venue.
The real damage control challenge now isn't just about his public image—it's about everyone who danced beside him that night wondering if they were exposed. Hantavirus spreads through contact with infected rats and rodent droppings, typically in enclosed spaces, making a crowded wedding hall a potential transmission hotspot if anyone present had been contaminated. Whether Çenet's attendance was innocent timing or reckless indifference depends on who you ask, but one thing is certain: this story isn't over until every guest from that Istanbul celebration gets tested.
