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In June 2024, posts went viral on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that “Taylor Swift has decided to cancel all her tour dates in Florida, stating she considers the State to be ‘racist.'”
As of this writing, only one X post spreading the rumor gained over 688,500 views and 9,300 comments. “The truth maybe because she did not have many swifties there,” one comment on X read, while another X user wrote “I would not watch her if it were free.”
(X user @JDunlap1974)
The rumor stemmed from an article published by The Dunning-Kruger Times with the title “Taylor Swift Cancels All Tour Dates in ‘Racist’ Florida.” It read:
Musical artist Taylor Swift is flying at the height of her fame right now. With a top ten album destroying the charts across the country and a sold-out tour winding daily throughout giant arenas everywhere, she’s really running the proverbial table.
Except for the unfortunate population of the state of Florida, who’s table apparently doesn’t come with any cues, chalk, or Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
Swift has completely cancelled all of her touring dates in Florida after the announcement by governor Ron DeSantis that African American studies, a course tracing the history and current events regarding black people, be removed from curriculums. It’s a fairly astounding show of pure racism and ignorance by the modern GOP.
Assistant governor Joe Barron explained DeSantis’ reasoning behind the cancellation on the popular Florida morning show Wake Up And Smell the Meth.
“The thing is, DeSantis really doesn’t like black people at all. They’re his least favorite of all the colors. He feels that in a perfect world, they wouldn’t even be in a University setting in the first place. I mean, do you need to hear a reason? It speaks for itself. Republicans are racist. They just are.”
Swift made a brief comment about her tour erasure (…)
“It’s absolutely disgusting, but sadly, what I’d expect from DeSantis and his miserable half-dead state of Florida. I mean, it’s America’s trash heap. Why would I go there? Shitty pizza and metamucil milkshakes?”
However, this was not a factual recounting of real-life events. The rumor originated with a website that describes its output as being satirical in nature.
The website is part of the America’s Last Line of Defense network and describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. Its disclaimer reads as follows:
Dunning-Kruger-Times.com is a subsidiary of the “America’s Last Line of Defense” network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery, or as Snopes called it before they lost their war on satire: Junk News.
Moreover, the website’s “About Us” section informs that:
Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site’s pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical.
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.
“About Us.” Dunning-Kruger-Times.Com, 1 Aug. 2022, https://dunning-kruger-times.com/about-us/.
Gunnington, Fallis. “Taylor Swift Cancels All Tour Dates in ‘Racist’ Florida.” Dunning-Kruger-Times.Com, 24 Jan. 2023, https://dunning-kruger-times.com/taytays-out/.
Aleksandra Wrona is a reporting fellow for Snopes, based in the Warsaw area.
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