NOT REAL NEWS
A look at what didn’t happen internationally last week
A ROUND-UP of some of the most popular, but completely untrue, international headlines of the week. None of these stories are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media.
NOT REAL: Jefferson Davis statue to be replaced with Obama likeness
THE FACTS: New Orleans took down its statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis last week as part of the city’s effort to remove monuments to the Confederacy. TDAlliance.com, a spin-off of a Facebook group that spoofs Fox News, posted a story claiming a statue of former President Barack Obama would go up in its place. City spokesman Tyronne Walker says no Obama statue is planned and an American flag will be placed where the Davis statue stood.
NOT REAL: Breaking: FBI uncovers evidence that 62 million Trump voters are Russian spies
THE FACTS: The satirical article was republished from The
Daily Stormer last week following real headlines of the investigation into the Trump campaign’s connections with Russia. The original piece quoted anonymous sources in the FBI with evidence the voters were KGB agents. One truth in the headline: More than 62 million Americans did cast votes for Trump last November 8 and elected him president. NOT REAL: McDonald’s uses worm meat fillers but can legally call it 100 per cent beef THE FACTS: McDonald’s spokeswoman Becca Hary confirms: All its burgers are 100 per cent beef, no fillers. The satire site Daily Buzz Live claimed in a widely shared piece that the fast-food giant uses earthworms and cow eyeballs in its patties, buying the fillers from a company called ‘100 per cent Beef’.
NOT REAL: Conservative icon Clint Eastwood found dead in his Brentwood home THE FACTS: A two-paragraph piece circulated by multiple sites over the past several weeks quotes the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, which posted no such announcement about the 86-year-old actor-director. The office also would not investigate a death in Brentwood, which is in Los Angeles County. Eastwood, a Republican supporter in the past, is scheduled to teach a master class in an appearance at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival.