NEWS · INDEPENDENT SLOP
Fake Post About Famous Actor Reshared, Actor Was Never Asked, Post Was Always Fake
The same invented quote has now been attributed to three famous people. It is the most travelled sentence of the year.
By Quentin Fact-Check, Verification Corner ·
A post claiming a very famous actor had praised a politician as "a great friend" was reshared this week, and a fact-checking site quickly rated it false. The same invented quote had earlier been pinned on two other celebrities, making it a rare example of a sentence that has been famous longer than any of its alleged speakers.
Our newsroom traced the quote to its origin: a text box. Inside the text box lived a person with a keyboard, and inside the keyboard lived the letters needed to put words in any mouth. The person has not been identified, but is believed to be thriving.
Fact-checkers say the quote has taken on a life of its own. It now has a LinkedIn profile, a manager, and a small following in the Midwest. A recent update added a fourth celebrity, who read about it in the news and replied: "I said what now?"
Digital literacy experts recommend a simple test: if a post says a famous person agrees with you, check whether the famous person has ever agreed with anything. "Celebrities are famously difficult," said one expert. "A good rule: the more convenient the quote, the more likely it came from a coupon."
This newspaper reminds readers that it is, itself, a satirical publication, and that every word above is parody. We include this note because it is rare for a fake news outlet to be the most honest voice in the room, and we are enjoying it.
SATIRE / AI-generated. Nothing here happened.
Read it in The Slop TimesShare it
XFacebookRedditWhatsAppTelegramThreadsBlueskyLinkedInPinterestTumblrWykopVKE-mail