The Chernobyl ‘Bridge of Death’
In May 2019, the release of HBO’s show Chernobyl caused a spike of interest in all aspects of the nuclear disaster — including the revival of some long-forgotten rumors. A postscript relating to a scene in Pripyat …
Entertainment
Trump Rally vs. Live Aid
In May 2019, a suspicious looking meme began to make the usual rounds on social media. It shows a huge crowd of people packing a venue raptly gazing at a stage bearing “Trump 2020” signs …
Jordan Peele, Tim Burton, Woody Allen, Ridley Scott, and Racism in Casting
On March 31 2019, a Facebook user shared a screenshot (archived here) of a different Facebook post which dissected the purported race-related casting decisions made by Jordan Peele, Tim Burton, Woody Allen, and Ridley Scott: …
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Did Rod Serling’s ‘Twilight Zone’ Use Sci-Fi to Push Politics Past Network Censors?
The beginning of April 2019 also marked the premiere of the third television iteration of The Twilight Zone. This time, Rod Serling’s mid-century television classic series was rebooted with producer Jordan Peele at the helm. On …
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Did Dave Chappelle Say ‘If You Stopped Listening to Michael Jackson … I Have Some Bad News About the Catholic Church’?
The March 2019 wide release of documentary Leaving Neverland prompted a flurry of social media activity, among the posts was a meme purportedly quoting comedian Dave Chappelle about reaction to the documentary, Michael Jackson, and …
Was Mr. Rogers Bisexual?
On March 5 2019, an unexpected rumor that Fred Rogers (the creator and star of the beloved American children’s television show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood) was bisexual began spreading on LGBTQ news sites and social media in …
Was Samuel L. Jackson an ‘Unknown Heroin Addict’ Before ‘Pulp Fiction’?
In February 2019, a Facebook page shared the following biographical meme about Samuel L. Jackson, detailing a purported drug addiction that defined his life before he got clean, which was around the time he appeared …
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Do Children’s Characters ‘Max and Ruby’ Have a Tragic Backstory?
In 2015, the following content (archived here), an apparent Tumblr screenshot describing the purported backstory for the preschool book series and television show Max & Ruby, started to circulate on social media: Underneath a still from Max …
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Lady Gaga: ‘I Had a Boyfriend Who Told Me I’d Never Succeed’
After 2019’s annual Academy Awards, a Lady Gaga quote about a boyfriend who purportedly told her she would never succeed began circulating on social media. An iteration of that quote (archived here) published to Facebook one day …
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Keanu Reeves Steals a Camera?
On February 6 2019, the Facebook page “Children of the Night” reposted a popular meme purportedly showing an amusing scene: actor Keanu Reeves fleeing paparazzi after stealing a camera from a photographer: Its caption stated: A …
