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 in Pulp Fiction. Alongside the meme, the page wrote: “Because he did not allow his situation to become his coffin.” The […]
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 & Ruby were comments from an original poster and another person. The first said: 12 years after it was first aired, […]
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 later was captioned “prove them wrong” and “be like Gaga”: A photograph of Lady Gaga (whose real name is Stefani […]
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 photo of Keanu Reeves running away with a camera he took from a Paparazzi guy is currently my favorite photo […]
Is ‘Friends’ Leaving Netflix in January 2019? Fans of the beloved sitcom Friends, which featured four, well, friends living in a late-1990s New York City apartment together and doing late-1990s things together, mourned together on social media in early December 2018 when Netflix apparently announced it would no longer be carrying the show after the new year: The story went viral almost […]
Did William Shatner Record a Christmas Album With Iggy Pop and Henry Rollins? As people began to get ready for the holidays in November 2018, social media suddenly became aware of an odd little rumor that had evidently passed under the radar months before. Apparently William Shatner, an actor and performer who is perhaps best known for his years playing Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek […]
Taylor Swift’s Political Endorsements: The Rumors and the Reality Pop superstar Taylor Swift — once a darling of the far-right and alt-right crowds because of her “Aryan goddess” looks and their own fevered imaginations — broke a years-long policy of silence on political matters in October 2018 to endorse a political party on her Instagram account: I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections […]
The ‘Amy Schumer Is Actually Christine Blasey Ford’ Conspiracy Theory The days following a September 27th, 2018 hearing before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, in which Palo Alto University professor and Stanford research psychologist Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh violently assaulted her during a party more than three decades before, swirled with increasingly bizarre stories about a grand conspiracy. […]
‘Jake From State Farm’ Actor Found Dead? Celebrity death hoaxes are nearly as old as the internet, and they leave no one unscathed. In this case, it’s Justin Campbell (perhaps most recognizable as the “Jake from State Farm” actor. But he isn’t dead. This particular celebrity death hoax was started by satire site Huzlers.com, which falsely reported that the actor was found […]
Facebook to Charge Members Monthly Fees? Various emails and Facebook group pages that say the popular Internet social network will be charging members for its use. Some say that the fees may run up to £/$14.99 (about $24.13 U.S.) per month.
