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CLAIM: An image shows a TMZ headline saying Madonna is “clinically brain dead.”
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. An image of the headline is fabricated, TMZ confirmed, and the pop superstar released a statement on Instagram this week saying she’s “on the road to recovery” after being hospitalized for a “serious bacterial infection.”
THE FACTS: The singer, who spent several days last month in an intensive care unit, posted a statement on Instagram Monday announcing that she is “getting stronger.”
CLAIM: The quote below Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ high school yearbook photo reads: “My Mount Rushmore is Jesus, Sir-Mixes-a-Lot, and Nintendo 64.”
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The loud sniffing sound was added to the original video, which merely shows the president leaning in to speak with a baby being held by its mother at a recent event.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False.
That didn’t stop social media users from sharing the bogus headline that falsely suggested otherwise.
“THIS IS THE END MADONNA CLINICALLY BRAIN DEAD…With No Chance of Recovery,” reads the headline in the image, above a photo of Madonna in black and white. The layout is in the style of a TMZ story with the red “EXCLUSIVE” banner.
The fabricated image was shared on Instagram in recent days and has more than 9,000 likes as of Monday. The same headline was also shared on Twitter last week with more than 3,000 likes as of Monday.
But itis a hoax. TMZ has not published any such story and the image appears to be an edited screenshot of a real article about Madonna.
The timestamp on the image reads “6/29/2023 1:59 PM PT,” matching that of a real TMZ article from last month titled: “MADONNA STILL TOO SICK TO GET OUT OF BED… Opening Tour Dates Uncertain.” It also has the same photo, but the real article uses a color image.
Archives of the page stored by the Wayback Machine show the headline has not been changed since it was published, and the headline circulating on social media cannot be found anywhere on TMZ’s website.
Casey Carver, a spokesperson with the outlet, confirmed to The Associated Press that TMZ never published the headline and said the image was “clearly something someone on social media has put together that has no relationship to TMZ.”
Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary, wrote on Instagram last month that she had “developed a serious bacterial infection” on June 24, which led to a stay in the ICU for several days. “Her health is improving, however she is still under medical care. A full recovery is expected,” he wrote at the time.
In her Instagram post on Monday saying that she is “on the road to recovery,” Madonna also said she would reschedule the North American leg of her career-spanning Celebration Tour. The tour was originally slated to kick off July 15 in Vancouver and run through Oct. 8 in Las Vegas, but will now start Oct. 14 in London.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
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