The claim: Kid Rock donated millions of dollars of supplies to North Carolina; Taylor Swift gave nothing
An Oct. 8 Threads post (direct link, archive link) claims rock musician Kid Rock delivered aid to those affected by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, while another celebrity failed to do so.
“Kid Rock heads to North Carolina with Millions in supplies,” reads the post. “Taylor Swift Nowhere to be Found.”
The post garnered more than 1,800 likes in three days. Other versions of the claim were shared on Facebook.
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Our rating: False
The claim originated on a satirical website. While Taylor Swift donated $5 million to help hurricane victims, there’s no evidence Rock provided aid.
Kid Rock claim originated as satire
Hurricane Helene killed more than 200 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage across the Southeast after it struck Florida as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 26. One of the states most heavily affected by the storm was North Carolina, where widespread flooding ravaged many towns such as Asheville.
But this account of who is and isn’t helping is rooted in satire, not reality.
The claim originated on the Dunning-Kruger Times, part of the America’s Last Line of Defense satirical network. The website’s “About Us” page says, “Everything on this website is fiction.” The article includes signs that the story is fabricated, such as the only listed source being “a guy named Terry who started drinking just before noon.”
America’s Last Line of Defense shared the claim on Facebook on Oct. 6 and linked to the article in the post’s comments. That account includes a similar satire disclaimer.
It’s an example of what could be called “stolen satire,” where stories written as satire and presented that way originally are reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.
One of the celebrities mentioned did end up donating to the cause, however.
Several days after this claim surfaced, on Oct. 10, Swift gave the national food bank Feeding America $5 million to help with Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton relief efforts.
There are no credible reports about Rock donating to those affected by the hurricane. USA TODAY reached out to Rock’s Charity Foundation but did not immediately receive a response.
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USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
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USA TODAY, Oct. 10, Taylor Swift makes multi-million dollar donation to Hurricane Milton, Helene relief
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America’s Last Line of Defense, Oct. 6, Facebook post
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America’s Last Line of Defense, accessed Oct. 10, Facebook page
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Dunning-Kruger Times, Oct. 6, Kid Rock heads to North Carolina with Millions in supplies – Taylor Swift Nowhere to be Found
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Dunning-Kruger Times, accessed Oct. 10, About Us
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Post misinforms about Taylor Swift hurricane relief | Fact check
