The claim: A judge denied a motion to dismiss Kyle Rittenhouse’s lawsuit against Whoopi Goldberg
An article purporting to describe a $25 million libel lawsuit brought by Kyle Rittenhouse against comedian and “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg gained a lot of attention online, with more than 14,000 people engaging with it on Facebook alone.
The April 24 “Dunning-Kruger Times” article claimed that Rittenhouse filed a defamation lawsuit against Goldberg in April 2022 and that a judge of the “United States Court of Briefs and Affidavits for the Western District of Wisconsin” had denied Goldberg’s motion to dismiss the case.
Rittenhouse became the subject of national attention during a November 2021 trial where he was acquitted of all charges related to the killing of two men during a 2020 protest in the wake of the death of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisc.
In comments about Facebook Y Twitter publications on the claim, users celebrated the supposed victory.
“Good for him,” one user wrote. “I’m so happy to see that justice will finally be done!!”
“You’ll get every penny and then some, experts say,” the America’s Last Line of Defense Facebook page captioned the article in a April 24 post.
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However, the story is not real, nor is it anything else published by the Dunning-Kruger Times. It is part of a network of satirical sites and Facebook pages that the creator claims are designed to troll conservatives.
The article was fictitious
While there is history between Rittenhouse and Goldberg, there is no lawsuit.
In February 2022Rittenhouse told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he planned to create a fund that would back lawsuits against reporters and cited Goldberg as a potential target.
“Whoopi Goldberg is on the list,” he said in the segment, according to the guardian. “He called me a murderer after a jury of my peers acquitted me.”
On an episode of “The View” on ABC, Goldberg had said, “Two people were killed. To me it’s murder. I’m sorry.”
The “Dunning-Kruger Times” reveals on its “about” page that it is part of America’s Last Line of Defense, a “network of parody, satire and slapstick” contain Christopher Blair. Blair previously published a satirical article about an alleged Rittenhouse lawsuit against Goldberg and co-host Joy Behar in November 2021. USA TODAY reported.
All websites and Facebook pages on the network disclose on their “about” pages that their content is fabricated, although this disclaimer is not visible on Facebook posts.
Fact check:False Claim That Kyle Rittenhouse’s Lawyers Sued 2 ‘The View’ Hosts
“I welcome every fact check,” Blair wrote in an email to USA TODAY. “I understand exactly why they are needed.”
Our rating: Satire
Based on our research, we rate SATIRE’s claim that a judge denied a motion to dismiss Rittenhouse’s lawsuit against Goldberg. There is no such demand. The website where the claim originated reveals that it is satirical and that “nothing on this page is real.”
Our data verification sources:
- America – Love It or Leave It, retrieved April 22, About
- America’s Last Line of Defense via Facebook, Retrieved April 28, About us
- Dunning-Kruger Times, accessed April 28, About us
- Christopher Blair, April 27, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- Dunning-Kruger Times, April 24, Judge denies Whoopi’s motion to dismiss Kyle Rittenhouse’s $25 million lawsuit
- USA TODAY, November 19, 2021, Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts of manslaughter and reckless endangerment
- The Guardian, February 22, Kyle Rittenhouse launches initiative to fight media ‘lies’ and Whoopi Goldberg
- USA TODAY, November 30, 2021, Fact Check: False Claim Kyle Rittenhouse’s Lawyers Sued 2 ‘The View’ Hosts
- Top Stories, April 26, Fact Check: Judge did NOT dismiss Kyle Rittenhouse’s (nonexistent) $25 million lawsuit against Whoopi Goldberg
- The Washington Post, November 17, 2018, ‘Nothing on this page is real’: how lies become truth in online America
- USA TODAY, August 25, 2020, Fact Check: Viral Claim About Nancy Pelosi And Overseas Military Voters Is False, Comes From Satire Site
- USA TODAY, February 16, 2021, Fact Check: It’s Impossible for Pelosi to Divert Social Security Funds for Impeachment
- USA TODAY, September 24, 2020, Fact Check: Claim Biden Called 2nd Amendment ‘Obsolete’ Is Satire
- USA TODAY, April 29, Fact Check: Satirical Post About Disney CEO & ‘Wake Up’ Misleads Many
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Reference-www.usatoday.com