Posts Tagged: social media hoax

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Nicki Minaj Offers Job to Woman Whose Photo Was Stolen by ‘Ex-Assistant’ Online

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Earlier this week, a troll went viral on Instagram after he/she claimed to be Nicki Minaj's "ex-assistant". The troll was so convincing that several celebrities responded to the alleged rapper's "ex-assistant" online.

The troll's post went viral and the story was picked up by mainstream media outlets, including Yahoo! News and Newsweek magazine.

BACKGRID

An outraged Nicki shut down the allegations in a video after the post went viral.

"I am mind-blown that people are this f--king dumb, that people are believing that I got somebody that worked for me and now they spilling tea... It's not even that, it's that the tea sounds so f--king dumb. And for a person to believe it, you would have to be dumb. It's clearly a kid."

Megan F. Bettencourt, the woman whose profile photo was stolen by the troll, took to Twitter on Wednesday, August 3, to explain that she had nothing to do with the drama.

"To be clear: I have never had a secret life as the 'ex-assistant' of @NICKIMINAJ," she wrote. "Someone stole my photo and used it in a fake account. Fraudulent impersonation wasn't the way I envisioned being mentioned in @Newsweek, but hey, scammers gonna scam."

Nicki apparently felt bad for Megan. The rapper offered her a job in a post on Twitter.

"Ok you know TF what? well hey, if you ever need a job hit me up. I feel bad. but hey cheers to Newsweek! Always a sliver living. i-i guess?"

Watch the video below:
 

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Fake Biden Headline Spreads Across Social Media

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Dozens of bloggers fell for this fake headline from The Atlantic over the weekend. If you saw the headline, and believed it was legit, you were not alone

81 million voters cringed as their President, Joe Biden took a spill while bike riding near his home in Delaware on Saturday.

The White House said Biden was doing "OK", and he walked out of church on Sunday morning with a spring in his step to prove he was not hurt.

AFP via Getty Images

But photos and videos of Biden's dramatic fall spread across the Internet like a tidal wave. Within an hour, Biden's big fall was the number 1 trending topic on Twitter.

Memes soon followed, as Biden's supporters slammed the Secret Service for allowing the President to ride a bike without training wheels.

Actor/comedian Terrence K. Williams tweeted: "80 Million people voted for a man who can't walk and needs Training Wheels on his BIKE?"

The mainstream media downplayed Biden's fall, while news networks cut off the viral video before Biden hit the ground.

But the headline that caught our attention was an alleged screenshot from The Atlantic that read: "The Heroism of Biden's Bike Fall.".

The sub headline read: "The President gracefully illustrated an important lesson for all Americans - when we fall, we must get back up."

AFP via Getty Images

The writer hailed Biden as a hero and an example of someone who picks himself up and dusts himself off, because nothing can keep a good man down.

In other words, even though he's 79, and has difficulty maintaining his balance on the way to the podium at the White House, Biden was a hero for falling off his bike and getting up again without breaking a hip.

A search on The Atlantic's website did not turn up the actual article.

According to The Associated Press, "The Atlantic did not publish such an article."

"No such story or headline can be found on The Atlantic's website, or in archived versions of the site from Saturday captured by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. The most recent edition of the Atlantic Daily online is from Friday, and the outlet's website says it is published "weekday evenings." Source

Anna Bross, a spokesperson for The Atlantic, confirmed in an email to the AP that the viral headline is fake.

"I can verify that this is not a real article from The Atlantic, and is indeed fabricated," Bross wrote.

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Trolls Are Lying About Black-On-White Violence in Theaters Showing ‘Black Panther’

Black Panther hoax

Internet trolls are sharing graphic images to discourage whites from buying tickets to see Black Panther, which opens nationwide in theaters today (Feb. 16). Trolls have been posting fake memes on social media for weeks, hoping to scare whites away from the theaters.

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Open Post: Stars Regret Falling for ‘Crying Boy’ GoFundMe Hoax; GoFundMe Accounts FROZEN at $58K

Keaton Jones

Celebrities reacted last night to the GoFundMe hoax perpetrated by a southern redneck who hoped to cash in on a viral video that claimed her son was bullied in school.

Both the Tennessee woman behind the hoax, Kimberly Jones, 37, and her son, Keaton, were exposed as racists and both of her GoFundme accounts were frozen last night after outraged social media users contacted the crowdfunding platform.

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