Claim that Jason Aldean halted collaboration with Taylor Swift is satire | Fact check
The claim: Jason Aldean rejected $500 million deal to collaborate with Taylor Swift
A Sept. 12 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a picture of country music star Jason Aldean alongside another photo of pop star Taylor Swift.
“Jason Aldean Rejects $500 Million Music Collaboration With Taylor Swift, 'Her Music Is Woke, No Thanks,'" reads text at the bottom of the pictures.
The post’s caption includes a link to an article making the same claim. The Facebook post was shared more than 100 times in nearly a week.
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Our rating: False
The claim originated as satire. No credible sources have reported that Jason Aldean refused a deal to work with Taylor Swift – or that such a deal was in the works to begin with.
Aldean, Swift claim comes from satirical website
Aldean and Swift hold opposite political views – Aldean has publicly supported conservative values and former President Donald Trump, whereas Swift has backed Democratic ideals and recently endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for the presidential ticket.
The article linked in the Facebook post claims Aldean “recently made headlines” for turning down the $500 million offer to work with Swift, and that he made a statement addressing the decision.
But there are no such headlines, and no evidence Aldean or Swift started or ended a collaboration. Because this claim originated as satire.
The story first appeared on Esspots, a website that posts parody news stories, on April 1.
The article from the Sept. 12 Facebook post copied Esspots' version. But the article and Facebook post failed to include the satire disclaimer that Esspots used. It’s an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where claims 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.
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USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
PolitiFact, Snopes and Reuters also debunked this claim.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Satirical claim about Jason Aldean, Taylor Swift | Fact check
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