Claim:
country singer Reba McEntire is facing “serious charges” and asked for prayers regarding a lawsuit involving Fox News and one of its hosts, Martha MacCallum.
Assessment:
In April 2024, a paid ad featuring a photo of country singer and “The Voice” reality television coach Reba McEntire ran on Facebook, claiming: “Reba McEntire faces serious charges, prayers.”
Users who clicked on the Facebook ad were directed to what appeared to be an article on FoxNews.com. The page displayed the Fox News design, colors and logo. The byline of the article showed the name Brit Humethe news network’s chief political analyst.
The headline read: “Reba McEntire’s Solution to Reversing Dementia Brings Massive Legal Pressure on Fox. She Finally Fights Back!” The article said that Fox News host Martha MacCallum planned to file a lawsuit against McEntire and the network for violating some type of contract, allegedly over McEntire’s creation of products called Makers CBD Gummies or Bloom CBD Gummies.
However, this was not a genuine article published by Fox News. The article was published on the fraudulent website lasaa.ink. According to a search on lasaa.ink with the ICANN Search Toolthe domain registrant may reside in China.
As indicated by our “false” fact check rating at the top of this article, the story about McEntire, MacCallum, Fox News, Hume, the lawsuit, and CBD gummies was completely false. Scammers created the Facebook ad and fake article in an effort to trick users into believing snake oil promises about the ability to “reverse dementia,” all to try to get them to sign up, without know, in monthly subscriptions to CBD gummy products – in this case Makers CBD Gummies and Bloom CBD Gummies.
McEntire has never had anything to do with CBD gummies, keto gummies, or other similar products. The scammers misused his image and likeness to sell gummies, just as scammers have done in the past with Oprah Winfrey, Kelly Clarkson, Ree Drummond, Dr. and so many other famous people.
Plus, Snopes has been tracking these scams for years. Meta has been accepting money to run these same types of false and fraudulent paid ads about McEntire and gummies since at least August 2021, according to previously reported. These types of false and potentially defamatory ads specifically about the country singer have been shown to users – apparently with little to no pushback from the country singer. multibillionaire social media company – for at least 20 months. Many other ads inappropriately featuring other celebrities have also been shown to users for years.
Part of the false and fraudulent article on lasaa.ink read the following:
Their product, Makers CBD Gummies [or Bloom CBD Gummies], flew off the shelves within minutes and Reba McEntire says her struggle now is keeping up with demand. Their CBD wellness line is 90% cheaper and five times more effective than those offered by Bayer and other “Big Pharma” companies.
Martha MacCallum was furious after seeing several sponsors cease sponsorship and begin suing Fox News Network. Martha is now calling for Reba McEntire to be indicted, saying, “I’m glad Reba McEntire found something to replace the prescriptions, but her announcement was a direct breach of contract. Fox News should fire her immediately and she should formally apologize.” “
Reba McEntire appeared on live TV again the next day, not to apologize, but to offer viewers discounted samples.
One tactic that scammers often use is to mention the words “Big Pharma”, “Big Energy”, “Big Tech” or other similar phrases in their scam proposals. Scammers include these phrases not as genuine warnings about the problems associated with “Big Pharma” and others, but rather to play on the emotions of potential victims, all to try to make them believe that purchasing a product will reduce their profits. tycoons. sitting at the top of these industries.
In February 2024, McEntire issued a declaration on social media telling his followers not to fall for gum scams. Unfortunately, these messages will likely only reach a small number of people who may one day receive a paid ad from the scam.
https://www.facebook.com/reba/posts/pfbid0m8nmcnedhVBwnCSG13qSFiqR8PmAxgsG69BpSVC3wLMEZ3EQbKUNwdV9WkKgshmol
In March, Snopes emailed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s public affairs office to ask if it was investigating the existence and massive reach of CBD and keto gum scams. We have not received any responses and have not yet received any substantial news about anything being done by any organization to find ways to stop scams and help consumers. Meanwhile, Meta continues to approve thousands of fraudulent ads to be displayed to its users – with Meta profiting from the ads.
Sources:
“Brit Hume.” Fox News, https://www.foxnews.com/person/h/brit-hume.
ICANN Research. https://lookup.icann.org/en.
ORTUTAY, Barbara. “Meta posts sharp profit and revenue increase in fourth quarter thanks to cost cuts and advertising recovery.” The Associated PressFebruary 1, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/meta-facebook-instagram-earnings-revenue-profit-abc3e389d97fb97c661ccb6acfcf65c7.
