In Might 2024, a viral put up on X from the account Save America claimed that two Hollywood greats, actors and filmmakers Denzel Washington and Clint Eastwood, had been becoming a member of forces to launch a “non-woke” film studio:
BREAKING: Denzel Washington and Clint Eastwood Be part of Forces to Launch Non-Woke Film Manufacturing Studio.
Do you help this?
Sure or No
Right here is the complete put up, which was considered 289,300 occasions, as of this writing:
🚨BREAKING: Denzel Washington and Clint Eastwood Be part of Forces to Launch Non-Woke Film Manufacturing Studio.
Do you help this?
Sure or No pic.twitter.com/Egu85X1iGR— Save America 🇺🇲 (@usanews0) May 5, 2024
Many followers posted feedback in help of the obvious information. “Omg. PLEASE. So sick of absolutely the rubbish being put out now,” wrote one account, whereas one other responded, “Sure!!! I by no means watch films anymore it might be good to look at one thing that was constructed on good writing not on being PC on a regular basis.”
A second account on X, TRUMP ARMY, shared the identical put up on June 12, 2024, receiving 137,000 views, as of this writing.
Snopes performed a Google key phrase search and located an earlier Fb put up from the account The Patriots Network dated Might 6, 2024. That put up shared an analogous headline to the viral posts on X, together with the next info:
Denzel Washington and Clint Eastwood have joined forces to ascertain a brand new movie manufacturing studio that guarantees to ship daring, unfiltered storytelling. This distinctive partnership brings collectively two cinematic legends who share a imaginative and prescient for creating movies that problem the established order and current compelling narratives with out bending to trade developments.
The Patriots Community Fb put up linked to a narrative on the web site SpaceXMania, dated April 14, 2024, which included the next particulars:
In an period dominated by divisive rhetoric and polarizing narratives, Denzel Washington and Clint Eastwood’s enterprise represents a beacon of hope for these looking for genuine and inclusive storytelling. Their un-woke movie manufacturing studio guarantees to usher in a brand new period of filmmaking that celebrates range of thought and captures the essence of the American spirit.
Nevertheless, this story proved unfaithful, and the put up didn’t factually recount real-life occasions. No respected information shops or web sites have shared the alleged information about Washington and Eastwood making a “non-woke” film studio. The picture accompanying the Fb put up from The Patriots Community bears a “Rated Satire” stamp within the top-right nook, whereas the account’s “About” part lists it as part of “a Community of Satire and Parody affiliated with SpacexMania.com.”
SpaceXMania.com describes its output as humorous and satirical in nature, each on its “About Us” page and as a label above its articles.
Inside the SpaceXMania community of parody and satire pages and social media accounts, one other internet web page, Esspots, ran the story about Washington and Eastwood’s “non-woke” film studio, which appeared on April 12, 2024, two days earlier than SpaceXMania printed its model.
Within the “About Us” part of the Esspots web page, the web site describes itself as “A Subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com specializing in Satire and Parody Information,” and “your one-stop vacation spot for satirical information and commentary about america of America. Our workforce of writers and editors is devoted to bringing you the most recent and best in pretend information and absurdity, all with a wholesome dose of humor and satire.”
This isn’t the primary time we have debunked such claims from this community of parody accounts. Snopes has beforehand fact-checked satirical claims, together with the NFL banning singer Taylor Swift from attending all future games because she’s “too distracting,” and Elon Musk investing $1 billion into actors Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg’s “un-woke” production company.
For background, right here is why we typically write about satire/humor.
