Whoopi Goldberg blasts fake news, threatens legal action
The story says the actress had accused Carryn Owens, the widow of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, of seeking attention
The story says the actress had accused Carryn Owens, the widow of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, of seeking attention. PHOTO COURTESY: HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Actress, comedian and talk show host Whoopi Goldberg is upset over a fake news story which she claims 'endangered' her life.
Goldberg vowed to take a legal action against the Underground Report, a website that calls itself a news and political satire web publication.
The website has since removed the story, but the satirist who made the fake story, headlined, "Whoopi Goldberg: Navy SEAL widow was ‘looking for attention’" thinks Goldberg should lighten up.
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According to “The View” host, the story said Goldberg had slammed Carryn Owens, the widow of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, who died in an attack on a terrorist target in Yemen, for attending US President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress.
Raw Story reported that the actress had accused Owens of seeking “attention.”
Goldberg termed the story a “horrible lie” that impacted her ties with vets and their families.
“I’m going to get my lawyer and I’m coming for you,” she threatened. According to Goldberg, the site’s disclaimer that it produces stories “not based in reality” is not sufficient.
Goldberg was critical of Trump’s decision to approve the deadly Yemen attack that came just a week after he was sworn into office. She questioned whether his decision to give a shout out to Owens was a “tribute” or an attempt at “damage control” when the widow of Ryan Owens got a mention by President Trump in his speech to Congress.
James McDaniel, Underground Report’s professional hoaxer, in a post on the site said that he doubts Goldberg or her family faced any real danger.
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“Few people who didn’t already harbour negative feelings towards Goldberg believed the story, and how many people believe that such comments would lead an otherwise harmless person [at least to Goldberg] over the edge and push them to violence or murder,” he wrote.
He said he started the site to see how many hits he could grab for the stuff he was making up, the site has turned into an experiment “with significant social and political consequences … and how they relate to confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance in individuals” who believed and spread his stories.
“I want to apologise to Goldberg and anyone else who may have been impacted by my recent stories about them, but I want them to understand that ultimately they were taking lumps for a greater cause, not just subject to the nihilistic whims of some sociopath in Costa Rica,” McDaniel wrote.
The website is not a stranger to controversy.
Earlier, a report published on the Underground Report website, with the headline, “Breaking: Satire makes fools of gullible Trump supporters” said, “So whether you are angry about Obama’s paedophile ring that he ran out of the White House, or Whoopi’s statements about US military widows, calm down… and grow up; neither ever happened”.
The Trump story also pointed out the high number of persons identifying as Trump supporters who thought stories on the website were factual.
Goldberg vowed to take a legal action against the Underground Report, a website that calls itself a news and political satire web publication.
The website has since removed the story, but the satirist who made the fake story, headlined, "Whoopi Goldberg: Navy SEAL widow was ‘looking for attention’" thinks Goldberg should lighten up.
7 celebrities who vowed to leave America if Trump became president
According to “The View” host, the story said Goldberg had slammed Carryn Owens, the widow of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, who died in an attack on a terrorist target in Yemen, for attending US President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress.
Raw Story reported that the actress had accused Owens of seeking “attention.”
Goldberg termed the story a “horrible lie” that impacted her ties with vets and their families.
“I’m going to get my lawyer and I’m coming for you,” she threatened. According to Goldberg, the site’s disclaimer that it produces stories “not based in reality” is not sufficient.
Goldberg was critical of Trump’s decision to approve the deadly Yemen attack that came just a week after he was sworn into office. She questioned whether his decision to give a shout out to Owens was a “tribute” or an attempt at “damage control” when the widow of Ryan Owens got a mention by President Trump in his speech to Congress.
James McDaniel, Underground Report’s professional hoaxer, in a post on the site said that he doubts Goldberg or her family faced any real danger.
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“Few people who didn’t already harbour negative feelings towards Goldberg believed the story, and how many people believe that such comments would lead an otherwise harmless person [at least to Goldberg] over the edge and push them to violence or murder,” he wrote.
He said he started the site to see how many hits he could grab for the stuff he was making up, the site has turned into an experiment “with significant social and political consequences … and how they relate to confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance in individuals” who believed and spread his stories.
“I want to apologise to Goldberg and anyone else who may have been impacted by my recent stories about them, but I want them to understand that ultimately they were taking lumps for a greater cause, not just subject to the nihilistic whims of some sociopath in Costa Rica,” McDaniel wrote.
The website is not a stranger to controversy.
Earlier, a report published on the Underground Report website, with the headline, “Breaking: Satire makes fools of gullible Trump supporters” said, “So whether you are angry about Obama’s paedophile ring that he ran out of the White House, or Whoopi’s statements about US military widows, calm down… and grow up; neither ever happened”.
The Trump story also pointed out the high number of persons identifying as Trump supporters who thought stories on the website were factual.