On Sept. 22, 2024, a post on the America – Love It or Leave It Facebook page alleged that a charity owned by Oprah Winfrey called “Coats for Kids” had an income of over $140 million, but only bought 310 coats throughout a year. The post alleged that the charity was under investigation as a result.

(America – Love It Or Leave It Facebook Page)

Some readers seemed to interpret rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, there was no evidence that Winfrey’s Coats for Kids had only bought 310 jackets with such a massive amount of money. In fact, there was no evidence that Winfrey owns a charity called “Coats for Kids.”

Rather, the rumor about the supposed charity’s dubious financial management originated with America’s Last Line of Defense — a network of social media pages and websites whose content the network describes as satirical in nature. As an example, the rumor appeared on the Dunning-Kruger Times website, just one site in the network. That site’s about page reads:

Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site’s pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical.

The Dunning-Kruger Times and the other pages affiliated with America’s Last Line of Defense have a history of making up stories for shares and comments. Snopes has addressed other claims that originated from the network in the past, like the assertion that Taylor Swift lost 30 million followers on social media after endorsing Kamala Harris, or a rumor that Harris’ college sorority refused to endorse her for president. Neither were true — both were satirical.

For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.