Since Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted last month of all charges in the Kenosha shootings, misinformation about Rittenhouse and the case has spread online.
A viral Facebook post claims that “Kyle Rittenhouse has filed a $60 million defamation lawsuit against the View’s Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg.” The post features a screenshot of a tweet that has been shared more than 5,000 times and liked more than 20,000 times.
The claim is false. Rittenhouse has not filed a defamation lawsuit against The View hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg.
The origins of the false claim come from PotatriotsUnite.com, a satirical website, self-described as “a subsidiary of the ‘America’s Last Line of Defense’ network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery.” Another widely shared Facebook post is accompanied by a screenshot of the article from PotatriotsUnite.com.
The satirical article claims that: “Kyle and his mom have pulled the trigger on a lawsuit against The View’s Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg. According to the family’s spokesman, Joe Barron, the Rittenhouses expect a quick and large settlement.”
It’s worth noting too that another clue that the article is satire is that it incorrectly mentions that the Rittenhouse family’s spokesman is Joe Barron. The Rittenhouse family spokesman is actually David Hancock, who told the Associated Press that: “The Rittenhouse team, Kyle and the rest of his lawyers, have not filed any legal actions against any organizations or any person in particular.”
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