An online hoax said that comedian Michelle Wolf was fired by Comedy Central after her controversial remarks at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“Breaking: Michelle Wolf fired — Comedy Central apologizes to Sarah Sanders,” stated a May 2 headline by The Liberty Raise. The story was copied from The Daily World Update, a website that identifies itself as satire.
Facebook users flagged the post as being potentially fabricated, as part of the social network’s efforts to combat online hoaxes. Wolf defended her own speech after criticism from the Trump administration and some journalists. But she was not fired.
The hoax story used an alleged quote by a man identified as the CEO of Comedy Central, Art Tubolls. Don’t be fooled; this name has been used in other fake news stories. The president of Comedy Central is Kent Alterman.
Comedy Central spokesman Steve Albani told PolitiFact that Wolf departed The Daily Show with Trevor Noah at the end of 2017. Then she landed her own show on Netflix.
The Break by Michelle Wolf on Netflix is scheduled to debut on May 27. A spokesperson for Netflix confirmed for PolitiFact that Wolf’s show will start streaming weekly on that date.
We rate the story about Wolf being fired Pants on Fire.
Truth-o-meter Ruling
Statement
"Breaking: Michelle Wolf fired -- Comedy Central apologizes to Sarah Sanders."
Context
a headlineSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
The Hollywood Reporter, "The Daily Show's' Michelle Wolf Lands Her Own Netflix Late-Night Show (Exclusive)," Feb. 12, 2018
Netflix, The Break with Michelle Wolf, Accessed May 3, 2018
Comedy Central, Executives, Accessed May 2, 2018
NPR, "Comic Michelle Wolf Responds To Backlash: 'I'm Glad I Stuck To My Guns,'" May 1, 2018
Factcheck.org, "Michelle Wolf Not Fired From Comedy Central," May 2, 2018
Snopes, "Did Comedy Central Fire Michelle Wolf and Apologize to Sarah Sanders?" April 29, 2018
Interview, Steve Albani, Comedy Central spokesman, May 3, 2018
Interview, Ronald Quintero, Netflix spokesman, May 3, 2018
Translations
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