“Kid Rock heads to North Carolina with Millions in supplies. Taylor Swift Nowhere to be Found.”
Claims that Kid Rock aided storm victims while Taylor Swift did nothing originated as satire
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Social media claims that Kid Rock donated millions in supplies to North Carolina’s Hurricane Helene victims, while Taylor Swift did nothing, originated on a self-described satirical website.
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Swift donated $5 million to the nonprofit Feeding America to help storm victims, the organization said.
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Kid Rock donated either $20,000 or $50,000 to a hurricane GoFundMe started by former President Donald Trump, according to reports from The Daily Mail and The Hill. We found no public evidence of other donations.
Some social media posts are praising singer Kid Rock and chastising singer Taylor Swift for their responses to Hurricane Helene.
“Kid Rock heads to North Carolina with Millions in supplies. Taylor Swift Nowhere to be Found,” an Oct. 8 Threads post said.
We found multiple social media posts using the same language.
This Threads post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
A Google search of the Threads post’s exact words tells a different story. It led us to a satirical article on The Dunning-Kruger Times, part of the America’s Last Line of Defense network, a self-described network of “parody, satire and tomfoolery.”
(Screenshot from Threads)
The satire site has two other fabricated stories accusing Swift of not caring about hurricane victims. One said she refused to play a benefit concert (but Kid Rock is). Another said Swift was caught on a hot mic trashing hurricane victims.
The Threads post and others shared the headline of the satirical article as real without disclaimers it was comedy.
Swift has, according to legitimate news reports, donated $5 million to support victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The nonprofit organization Feeding America thanked Swift for her donation in an Oct. 9 Instagram post.
We found no credible news articles in a search of Google and the Nexis news database that Kid Rock has donated “millions in supplies” to North Carolina storm victims. We found two reports that he donated to a GoFundMe campaign for Helene victims started by former President Donald Trump. Those reports gave conflicting amounts, either $20,000 or $50,000. A search of the GoFundMe page showed a user named Kid Rock donating $20,000. Rock also shared a link to the GoFundMe on Facebook and his X account.
The claim that Kid Rock has donated millions in supplies in North Carolina while Taylor Swift was nowhere to be seen originated on a satirical website, but many users are sharing it as real. The claim is False.
Our Sources
Threads post, Oct. 8, 2024
The Dunning-Kruger Times, Kid Rock heads to North Carolina with Millions in supplies —Taylor Swift Nowhere to be Found, accessed Oct. 13, 2024
The Dunning-Kruger Times, About Us, accessed Oct. 13, 2024
Feeding America, Instagram post, Oct. 9, 2024
CNN, Taylor Swift donates $5 million toward relief efforts in wake of Hurricanes Milton and Helene, Oct. 9, 2024
The Guardian, Taylor Swift donates $5m to US hurricane relief efforts, Oct. 10, 2024
The Hill, Trump GoFundMe for Hurricane Helene victims raises more than $3M, Oct. 1, 2024
The Daily Mail, Dana White donates six-figure sum to Donald Trump's Hurricane Helene fundraiser, Oct. 2, 2024
Kid Rock, X post, Oct. 1, 2024
Kid Rock, Facebook post, Oct. 1, 2024
GoFundMe, Support Hurricane Helene Victims - Trump Authorized, accessed Oct. 13, 2024
