In June 2024, posts went viral on X (formerly Twitter) claiming that “Taylor Swift has decided to cancel all of her tour dates in Florida because she believes the state is 'racist.'”

At the time of this writing, just one post by X spreading the rumor received over 688,500 views and 9,300 comments. “That might be true because she didn't have many Swifties there,” said one comment on X, while another X user wrote, “I wouldn't watch her if it was free.”

(X-User @JDunlap1974)

The rumor comes from a Dunning-Kruger Times article titled “Taylor Swift cancels all tour dates in 'racist' Florida.” It states:

Musician Taylor Swift is currently at the height of her fame. With a top ten album topping charts across the country and a sold-out tour playing massive arenas every day, she truly is the proverbial number one.

Except for the unfortunate population of the state of Florida, whose table apparently has no cues, chalk, or Mike's Hard Lemonade.

Swift has canceled all of her tour dates in Florida after Governor Ron DeSantis announced that African American Studies, a course that traces the history and current events of the black population, will be removed from the curriculum. It's a pretty astonishing display of pure racism and ignorance from the modern GOP.

Lieutenant Governor Joe Barron explained DeSantis' reasons for the cancellation on Florida's popular morning show “Wake Up And Smell the Meth.”

“The thing is, DeSantis doesn't like black people at all. Of all the colors, they're the least likable to him. He believes that in a perfect world, they wouldn't be in a college environment at all. I mean, do we need to hear a reason? It speaks for itself. Republicans are racist. They just are.”

Swift made a brief comment on her tour suspension (…)

“It's absolutely disgusting, but unfortunately, that's exactly what I've come to expect from DeSantis and his miserable, half-dead state of Florida. I mean, it's America's garbage heap. Why would I go there? Shitty pizza and Metamucil milkshakes?”

However, this was not a factual retelling of real events. The rumor originated from a website that labeled its publications as satirical.

The website is part of the America's Last Line of Defense network and describes its publications as humorous or satirical. Its disclaimer is as follows:

Dunning-Kruger-Times.com is a subsidiary of America's Last Line of Defense, a network of parody, satire and silliness, or as Snopes called it before they lost their war on satire: Junk News.

In addition, the “About Us” section of the website states:

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 it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between the pure fantasy of this website and actual people, places and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical.

As background information, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.