Latest news with #FactCheck
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fact check: Trump calls to prosecute Beyoncé based on a nonexistent $11 million payment
President Donald Trump over the weekend called for the prosecution of music superstar Beyoncé – based on something that did not actually happen. Trump claimed in a social media post that Beyoncé broke the law by supposedly getting paid $11 million for her endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during an October 2024 event in Houston. But there is simply no basis for Trump's claim that Beyoncé received an $11 million payment related to the Harris campaign, let alone for the endorsement in particular. Federal campaign spending records show a $165,000 payment from the Harris campaign to Beyoncé's production company, which the campaign listed as a 'campaign event production' expense. A Harris campaign spokesperson told Deadline last year that they didn't pay celebrity endorsers, but were required by law to cover the costs connected to their appearances. Regardless of the merits of this particular $165,000 expenditure, it's far from an $11 million one. Nobody has ever produced any evidence for the claim of an eight-figure endorsement payment to Beyoncé since the claim that it was '$10 million' began spreading last year among Trump supporters on social media. Fact-check websites and PolitiFact looked into the '$10 million' claim during the campaign and did not find any basis for it. The White House did not immediately respond to a CNN request late Saturday for any evidence of Trump's $11 million figure. When Trump previously invoked the baseless figure, during an interview in February, he described his source in the vaguest of terms: 'Somebody just showed me something. They gave her $11 million.' A Harris spokesperson referred CNN on Saturday to a November social media post by Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles, who called the claim of a $10 million payment a 'lie' and noted it was taken down by Instagram as 'False Information.' 'When In Fact: Beyonce did not receive a penny for speaking at a Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harrris's (sic) Rally in Houston,' Knowles wrote. A spokesperson for Beyoncé told PolitiFact in November that the claim about a $10 million payment is 'beyond ridiculous.' What Trump wrote Sunday Trump revived the false claim in a social media post published after midnight early Sunday morning in Scotland, where he is visiting. He wrote that he is looking at 'the fact' that Democrats 'admit to paying, probably illegally, Eleven Million Dollars to singer Beyoncé for an ENDORSEMENT.' Democratic officials actually reject the claim of an $11 million payment. The White House did not immediately respond to CNN's request for any evidence of a Democratic admission of such a payment. Trump went on to criticize other payments from the Harris campaign to organizations connected to prominent endorsers. He asserted without evidence that these payments were inaccurately described in spending records. And he wrongly asserted that it is 'TOTALLY ILLEGAL' to pay for political endorsements, though no federal law forbids endorsement payments. Trump concluded: 'Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW. They should all be prosecuted! Thank you for your attention to this matter.' Trump has repeatedly called for the prosecution of political opponents. His Saturday post about Harris and celebrity endorsements was an escalation from a post in May, when he said he would call for a 'major investigation' on the subject but did not explicitly mention prosecutions.
CNN
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Fact check: Trump calls to prosecute Beyoncé based on a nonexistent $11 million payment
President Donald Trump called Saturday for the prosecution of music superstar Beyoncé – based on something that did not actually happen. Trump claimed in a social media post that Beyoncé broke the law by supposedly getting paid $11 million for her endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during an October 2024 event in Houston. But there is simply no basis for Trump's claim that Beyoncé received an $11 million payment related to the Harris campaign, let alone for the endorsement in particular. Federal campaign spending records show a $165,000 payment from the Harris campaign to Beyoncé's production company, which the campaign listed as a 'campaign event production' expense. A Harris campaign spokesperson told Deadline last year that they didn't pay celebrity endorsers, but were required by law to cover the costs connected to their appearances. Regardless of the merits of this particular $165,000 expenditure, it's far from an $11 million one. Nobody has ever produced any evidence for the claim of an eight-figure endorsement payment to Beyoncé since the claim that it was '$10 million' began spreading last year among Trump supporters on social media. Fact-check websites and PolitiFact looked into the '$10 million' claim during the campaign and did not find any basis for it. The White House did not immediately respond to a CNN request late Saturday for any evidence of Trump's $11 million figure. When Trump previously invoked the baseless figure, during an interview in February, he described his source in the vaguest of terms: 'Somebody just showed me something. They gave her $11 million.' A Harris spokesperson referred CNN on Saturday to a November social media post by Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles, who called the claim of a $10 million payment a 'lie' and noted it was taken down by Instagram as 'False Information.' 'When In Fact: Beyonce did not receive a penny for speaking at a Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harrris's (sic) Rally in Houston,' Knowles wrote. A spokesperson for Beyoncé told PolitiFact in November that the claim about a $10 million payment is 'beyond ridiculous.' Trump revived the false claim in a social media post published after midnight early Sunday morning in Scotland, where he is visiting. He wrote that he is looking at 'the fact' that Democrats 'admit to paying, probably illegally, Eleven Million Dollars to singer Beyoncé for an ENDORSEMENT.' Democratic officials actually reject the claim of an $11 million payment. The White House did not immediately respond to CNN's request for any evidence of a Democratic admission of such a payment. Trump went on to criticize other payments from the Harris campaign to organizations connected to prominent endorsers. He asserted without evidence that these payments were inaccurately described in spending records. And he wrongly asserted that it is 'TOTALLY ILLEGAL' to pay for political endorsements, though no federal law forbids endorsement payments. Trump concluded: 'Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW. They should all be prosecuted! Thank you for your attention to this matter.' Trump has repeatedly called for the prosecution of political opponents. His Saturday post about Harris and celebrity endorsements was an escalation from a post in May, when he said he would call for a 'major investigation' on the subject but did not explicitly mention prosecutions.
The Journal
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Journal
Separating fact from fiction on that time Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a bat
IT'S ONE OF the most infamous stories from Ozzy Osbourne's storied career, summing up the chaotic excess that marked his time in music and entertainment for more than half a century. But what is the fact and the fiction to the story of Osbourne – who died yesterday aged 76 – supposedly biting his head off a real live bat? While not exactly a rubber-stamped iteration of FactCheck , let's have a go at separating the fact from the fiction on the incident. In 1982, Osbourne was on a solo tour of the US which had brought him to Des Moines, Iowa. He was promoting his second solo album, Diary of a Madman, and – befitting the man and the album name – a convention of his shows was that Osbourne would fling raw meat into his audience. According to some reports of the time, he had literally rigged a catapult to launch raw meat into the audience. His audience took to the growing tradition and began coming with animal parts of their own to return fire. Makes sense. In one instance during the Des Moines show, Osbourne picked up a critter thrown on the stage and, apparently thinking it was a rubber toy bat, bit its head off. Advertisement As reported by local newspaper Des Moines Register at the time , the rocker left the city with a 'four-day supply of rabies vaccine and a bat taste in his mouth'. Dead or alive Accounts seem settled on it not being a rubber bat, but conflicting versions start to appear on a crucial aspect: was the bat dead or alive at the time Osbourne took the bite? According to his 2010 autobiography, I Am Ozzy, Osbourne quickly felt a 'warm, goopy liquid' in his mouth and realised it was not a rubber bat after all. The creature even 'twitched' in his mouth. At least that's one telling of the story, because he had told a slightly different story four years earlier to the BBC. On that occasion, the singer said he thought it 'was one of them Halloween joke bats because it had some string around its neck'. After biting into it, he sees his his wife and then manager Sharon Osbourne gesturing to him. 'And I'm like, what you talking about,' Osbourne said in 2006. After Sharon tells him it's a 'dead, real bat', the singer realised what he'd done. The fan who has claimed credit for the bat was 17-year-old Mark Neal, who supposedly came upon the bat after finding it outside his school. In another sign that there are elements of Chinese whispers to this story, other tellings recount that it was actually Neal's brother who had found the bat and brought it home, only for the poor creature to die. But either way, Neal kept the bat in his freezer for about two weeks before the show took place and has been widely accepted as the one who flung the animal corpse at Osbourne – and accidentally creating an infamous moment in music history. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Debunked: Meme image of Hillary Clinton calling Conor McGregor ‘future president' is a spoof
AN IMAGE OF a tweet that appears to depict Hillary Clinton calling Conor McGregor a future president has duped people into thinking it is real, despite being an edited image likely meant as a joke. The image is an alteration of an actual tweet , published by Clinton in 2016, in which she posted a photo of herself alongside the words 'Happy birthday to this future president.' The original tweet gained further traction after Clinton's defeat in the 2016 US presidential election the following month; it had not aged well. However, while the tweet may have been known to many American users in 2016, it is unlikely to be so familiar now to an Irish audience. Which is why it may have been confusing when, on 15 July, the day after McGregor's birthday, he shared on his social media a screenshot that showed a variation of 'Happy birthday to this future president' tweet by Clinton. The childhood image of her was replaced with a photo of McGregor as a young boy. 'Thank you @HillaryClinton,' McGregor wrote. It is unclear if McGregor believed it was a real image, or had shared it in jest. He had also replied on Instagram to a Happy Birthday post by a fan blogger with the account name 'OurLadyMelania' with the words 'Thank you FLOTUS', referring to the First Lady of the United States. Advertisement The post plays on McGregor's previous suggestions that he would run for president. However, it had seemed unlikely he would get the nominations needed to run, even before dramatic court hearings earlier this appeal against a civil finding that he was liable of the 2018 sexual assault of Dublin woman led to the Court of Appeal making a referral to the DPP about supposed fresh evidence that McGregor initially wanted to submit but dropped at the 11th hour. In either case, the 'Clinton post' appears to have fooled some people. 'Please tell me this not real?!' one Facebook user wrote. 'He definitely tweeted thank you Hilary,' another responded. Interestingly, many of the commenters who think Clinton's message to McGregor is real seem to imply that this reflects badly on McGregor. 'The woman behind Pizzagate crawling up another useful idiot's ass,' one user put it. (Pizzagate is the name of a baseless conspiracy theory that often featured Hillary Clinton as a villainous mastermind). 'So we know that he's definitely been compromised,' another user wrote. The image of McGregor was not the only part of Clinton's post that was altered. The date was changed to 15 July 2025. No such post was published on that date by Hillary Clinton's account on X (formerly Twitter). Want to be your own fact-checker? Visit our brand-new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for guides and toolkits The Journal's FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network's Code of Principles. You can read it here . For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader's Guide here . You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here . Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... It is vital that we surface facts from noise. Articles like this one brings you clarity, transparency and balance so you can make well-informed decisions. We set up FactCheck in 2016 to proactively expose false or misleading information, but to continue to deliver on this mission we need your support. Over 5,000 readers like you support us. If you can, please consider setting up a monthly payment or making a once-off donation to keep news free to everyone. Learn More Support The Journal
Al Jazeera
13-07-2025
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
Did DOGE Budget Cuts and Cloud Seeding Worsen the Texas Floods?
Did DOGE Budget Cuts and Cloud Seeding Worsen the Texas Floods? Fact Check In this Fact Check with @khalidmajzoubofficial, we dig into who's being blamed for the floods in Texas, what the evidence says, and what's just noise. Video Duration 05 minutes 40 seconds 05:40 Video Duration 05 minutes 36 seconds 05:36 Video Duration 04 minutes 49 seconds 04:49 Video Duration 02 minutes 59 seconds 02:59 Video Duration 02 minutes 21 seconds 02:21 Video Duration 02 minutes 22 seconds 02:22 Video Duration 03 minutes 32 seconds 03:32
