In the wake of last week’s devastating fires in Los Angeles County, several social media posts have circulated, claiming that pop superstar Taylor Swift – who is currently dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce – made a significant contribution to the relief efforts. However, a recent fact-check raises serious doubts about the accuracy of this claim.
One particular post, which was shared on the Jack Smith Fan Club Facebook page on Jan. 12, claimed that Taylor Swift had donated $10 million to aid disaster relief.
“Taylor Swift contributed $10 million to support relief efforts for the California wildfires,” the post stated. “During this challenging time marked by loss and sorrow, she, along with many others, has chosen to make a difference through both large and small acts of kindness.”
Despite the claim, the prominent fact-checking site Snopes.com found no evidence to support it.
“Some posts sharing the claim included Swift alongside other celebrities who had announced donations, many of whom shared that information publicly. For instance, singer Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD foundation made a $2.5 million donation, actor Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband, Christopher Guest, donated $1 million and Paris Hilton (archived), who lost her house in the Palisades fire, donated $100,000 and promised to match an additional $100,000 in donations,” Snopes reported this week.
“However, there was no publicly available evidence suggesting Swift made a $10 million donation. She had not posted about a donation on social media, nor had any reliable entertainment news outlet reported on the supposed event. Snopes reached out to representatives for Swift to learn more and will update this story if we hear back.”
“The mixture of true and unconfirmed information in the posts may have made the rumor about Swift’s donation seem more believable. Several users left comments on posts indicating they believed the claim was true.”
Needless to say, it’s horrible news that this unverified claim spread and sparked misinformation, and the fact-check led to a lot of reactions on social media.
“Nowsaday people just choose to believe lies based on their bias while screaming at us that we’re biased to dislike her lol. And apparently Disney, Amazon, and Apple all ACTUALLY donated over $10m. Why do Swifties lie on such a fundamental level just to prop up their fav singer? She has successfully convinced them to be her free worker bees fr. With a fanbase like that and no actions from their idol, why shouldn’t we hate?” one person wrote in a post on Reddit.
“I don’t understand Swifites. They want her to be a better person but instead of holding her accountable they just make up stories to make her appear better,” someone else added.
“This is what happens when half of your fanbase consists of minors: they have not yet been taught how to discern between real and fake news. Any adult fan who thinks this was real gets all their news from headlines and never reads deeply into anything,” another person wrote.
“This was such a blatant misinformation spread on all platforms,” someone else said.
“What an utterly pathetic thing to lie about,” another person wrote.
“Well, that is pretty garbage to find out that was a lie,” someone else said.
Since the publication of this fact-check by Snopes, Swift has shared a social media post confirming that she donated to wildfire relief efforts, though she did not specify the amount, leaving the massive $10 million figure unverified.
“The fires in California have devastated so many families, and it’s been heartbreaking to see these stories unfold. So much suffering, loss, and destruction,” she wrote in an Instagram story. “As so many people embark on some of the most challenging times of their lives, there are also many amazing organizations and groups banding together to help these communities rebuild.”
The wildfires have caused immense destruction throughout Los Angeles County, claiming thousands of homes and businesses and resulting in the loss of at least 25 lives.
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