At 1:07pm EDT on Thursday, “That Gay Guy Candle Co” posted on social media claiming there would be a surprise speaker at the Democratic National Convention (DNC). The post was one of the first major social media accounts to spread a rumor that would later be falsely reported by two mainstream media outlets.
According to posts reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation, several other major liberal accounts began spreading the rumor after The Gay Guy Candle Inc. posted a now-deleted X-post to a CNN reporter about a possible surprise event. TMZ and The Hill It was mistakenly reported that Beyoncé would perform at the event, but that never happened.
“Angry Staffer,” an anonymous account with about 600,000 followers, suggested in a post at 1:28 p.m. EDT that it had received a hint about a “surprise” bigger than Oprah Winfrey's speech at the Democratic National Convention the night before. (Related article: Harris campaign and Google may face lawsuit over fake news headline plan)
Brian Krassenstein, a well-known online critic of former President Donald Trump with nearly 860,000 followers, Claimed At 1:45 p.m. EDT, he said he'd been told there was a “big surprise” at the Democratic National Convention.
Angry Stuff account after Beyonce fails to show up said “The people who have spoken to me are not prone to exaggeration,” he said, apologizing for publishing the false information. He speculated that the false rumor may have been a ratings ploy by the Democratic National Committee, but expressed doubts about this possibility.
Angry staff members said they “felt better” that mainstream media had also reported the false rumours.
“Beyonce is in Chicago preparing to appear before Kamala Harris on the final night of the Democratic National Convention…obtained by TMZ,” the outlet reported at 4:49 p.m. EDT, citing multiple sources. The Hill, citing two sources, erroneously reported that the music superstar would be performing. One of the sources reported seeing Beyonce in Chicago, the outlet reported after it became clear she would not be appearing.
A representative for the singer later said she had no plans to be there and that reports of the performance were false. According to From an article published by The Hollywood Reporter at 7:01 p.m. EDT.
Biden associates, along with his political director, Amy Lewis, appear to be fueling the rumors. Posts I sent X a bee emoji at 4:37pm EDT.
Beyonce's Fanbase See also They call themselves the “BeyHive” and frequently post bee emojis on social media. The singer is so committed to the metaphor that Execute In 2023 I will dress up as a bee.
The media took the bait, and Lewis later claimed that a six-year-old had stolen his phone and posted the emojis.
(Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“Did the White House political director drop a major hint about Beyonce's appearance at the Democratic National Convention?” NBC 5 Chicago headline readFollowing the social media post, Huffington Post deputy editor Phil Lewis also Amplified He suggested the post had a meaning.
Lewis sparked rumors of a “big surprise” after viewership for the Democratic National Convention was 22% lower than in 2016. According to About 20 million people watched the convention on Monday, according to Axios, far surpassing the 18.13 million viewers on the first day of the Republican National Convention. Hovered The numbers are roughly the same on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Politico Made Within hours, multiple posts were popping up promoting a possible Beyoncé appearance at X.
Beyoncé wasn't the only name on the list of surprise guests for the Democratic National Convention, with former CNN host Don Lemon mistakenly mentioning floating There is a possibility that former Republican President George W. Bush will appear. Taylor Swift performance.
“I'm not at all surprised that Don concocted the idea that George W. Bush might attend the Democratic National Convention (Bush's own chief of staff denied it), but I'm kind of disappointed that Bush won't be performing 'Single Ladies,'” says journalist Matthew Keyes. Written About X.
TMZ, CNN, The Hill and Politico did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the DCNF.
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