Fact Checking Claims That George Strait Dissed Beyoncé
Music rivalries have taken center stage in American culture this week as Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar and R&B/hip hop megastar Drake continue to exchange a volley of escalating “diss tracks” online. Will the showdown between Compton and Toronto be overshadowed by a new rivalry in the country music scene?
A viral Facebook post claims that George Strait, often called the King of Country, is less than impressed with Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, a country-inspired album released in March.
Fans of the two musicians can rest easy, however: A representative for Strait confirmed to The Dispatch Fact Check that the quote was fake and originated via a parody site.
On April, 10, America’s Last Line of Defense—a Facebook page that claims it is dedicated to satire and parody and includes the disclosure “Nothing on this page is real”—posted the quote and attributed it to an exclusive interview with Strait. The post also attributes to Strait a quote criticizing country singer Darius Rucker, and includes a fake statement from a PR representative explaining that “[Strait] means well,” and that “his opinion of Beyonce probably doesn’t have much to do with skin color.” While the page’s information section identifies itself as a satire/parody account, its individual posts carry no such disclosure, and many commenters appear to mistakenly view the information as factual.
Despite the original post being made by a page labeled as satirical, new versions of the post have emerged since that make no effort to qualify Strait’s quote as fake. Similar false quotes pertaining to Beyoncé have also been attributed in posts to other country singers including Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton, as well as Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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