Claim about Wahlberg and Gibson opening ‘non-woke’ studio originated as satire | Fact check
An April 1 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims actors Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson launched a new business venture together.
“Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg Join Hands to Create a Non-Woke Film Production Studio, ‘Hollywood Is Saved,'” reads the text below the pictures.
The post garnered more than 4,000 shares in four days. Other versions of the claim were shared widely on Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.
Our rating: False
The claim originated on a satirical website, though the post is not labeled that way. There’s no evidence the two actors co-founded a production studio.
‘Non-woke’ studio claims are stolen satire
There are no credible reports of Wahlberg and Gibson starting a studio together.
A story linked by the user in the post’s comments is also clearly labeled satire on the website Esspots. The article’s author is described as “one of the funniest and sharpest writers in the industry” who has years of experience writing satirical pieces, and a disclaimer on the site says every story is fictitious.
The Facebook post is an example of what could be called “stolen satire,” where stories 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.
Similar posts were also shared by the satirical page America’s Last Line Defense, claiming actors such as Nicholas Cage, Angelina Jolie and John Voight opened identically “non-woke” film studios. There are no credible reports of any of these actors co-founding studios.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Snopes also debunked the claim.
