The Today show has been caught out by a fake news story featuring a “fugitive Ed Sheeran lookalike”.
WATCH: Today show falls for fake story
On Thursday morning, viewers tuned in as they were informed about a “major manhunt” that was underway in the US for a thief who’d been posing as the British singer.
Unfortunately for presenter Tracy Vo who reported the story in her news slot, the story was completely made up.
“A major manhunt underway in the US: The Ohio Fugitive Taskforce hunting a man who’s been taking cash from churches, fooling them into thinking he’s Ed Sheeran. This is his mugshot,” Vo announced.
Hosts Karl Stefanovic and Ally Langdon were taken in too and they laughed at the unlikely side-by-side images of the fugitive and the star he was impersonating.
“That’s not Ed Sheeran of course, it’s Ronnie Williams Jr., who even went as far as performing Shape Of You in front of one of the congregations he was stealing money from.
When the pastor was asked why the real Ed Sheeran would’ve performed for $35 and a sandwich, he … just assumed he’d fallen on tough times. There you go; he’s wanted for fraud,” Vo continued.
“Other than the fact they both have red hair, there is nothing alike about them,” said Langdon.
“Great story T-Vo,” Stefanovic told the newsreader.
The problem was, the news source for the story was the “Portsmouth Ohio Official”, a Facebook page with almost 40,000 followers that is clearly labelled as “Satire/Parody.”
“Portsmouth Ohio official is a news and entertainment satire web publication. This page is for entertainment purposes only,” runs a disclaimer on the page.
Today admitted to their blunder later in the show.
“It turns out it was a fake news story all along. We did fall for this one. It was from a satirical news site,” they said. “Still a good laugh.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
How getting my hearing checked gave me a new lease on life
Native ad body.
