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Celebrities Falsely Claimed to Be Cutting Ties with Amazon Over Bezos’ Alleged Trump Support
A sophisticated network of foreign websites and Facebook pages has been spreading fabricated news stories claiming dozens of celebrities are severing business relationships with Amazon over Jeff Bezos’ supposed “quiet alignment with Trump.”
The false stories follow an almost identical template, with each celebrity allegedly sending a message beginning with “Wake up, Jeff” and threatening to pull partnerships from Amazon. The posts pair images of various celebrities with photos of former President Trump, creating the impression of legitimate news.
Among those falsely portrayed as cutting ties with Amazon are Cher, Patrick Mahomes, Bono, Robert De Niro, Barbra Streisand, Michael Jordan, and dozens of others. One post even featured Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney, who died in 1988 – six years before Amazon was founded in 1994.
“These fabricated stories contain multiple red flags that indicate they are part of a coordinated disinformation campaign,” said digital media analyst Claire Wardle in an interview. “The identical narrative structure across dozens of different celebrities is a classic sign of mass-produced misinformation.”
The Facebook page “Melody Avenue,” which promoted one version of the story featuring Cher, has page transparency information revealing it is operated by users from Vietnam and the Philippines. This Vietnamese connection is significant, as fact-checkers have identified Vietnam as a major source of AI-generated false stories.
The clickbait articles use sophisticated techniques to evade detection, including the use of homoglyphs – text characters that resemble Latin alphabet letters but are actually characters from other alphabets like Cyrillic or Greek. This tactic helps bypass AI detection systems and content moderation tools.
“Bad actors might use homoglyphs to avoid search engine blocking, ad network detection, or plagiarism identification,” explained cybersecurity expert Marcus Chen. “Legitimate news outlets have no reason to substitute characters this way.”
No credible news sources have reported any of these supposed business separations. Searches on platforms like Google News and the celebrities’ own social media accounts reveal no evidence supporting these claims. A search for “Wake up, Jeff” on Cher’s X account, for example, returns no results.
The widespread nature of these false stories highlights the growing challenge of foreign influence campaigns using AI-generated content to spread misinformation. The identical narrative structure across dozens of posts suggests an automated system creating variations on a template, swapping in different celebrity names and images.
Media literacy advocates recommend that social media users verify information through multiple trusted sources before sharing content, especially stories that seem designed to provoke strong emotional reactions. Red flags include dramatic headlines, stories that aren’t covered by mainstream news outlets, and pages with minimal transparency information.
The fabricated Amazon stories represent a growing trend of sophisticated disinformation that combines AI content generation, foreign influence operations, and social media distribution networks. As these tactics evolve, both platforms and users face increasing challenges in distinguishing genuine news from manufactured falsehoods.
Facebook has policies against coordinated inauthentic behavior and misleading content, but the scale and sophistication of operations like these present ongoing enforcement challenges for the platform and its content moderators.
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15 Comments
While celebrity endorsements can sway public opinion, it’s important to look at the facts and evidence rather than unverified claims. Careful analysis is needed here.
The Bezos-Trump connection is certainly intriguing, but these ‘cutting ties’ stories seem dubious. I’ll be interested to see how Amazon responds to any legitimate concerns that arise.
I’m skeptical of these celebrity ‘cutting ties’ stories. Sounds like a coordinated disinformation campaign as the article suggests. Hard to verify without seeing real evidence.
Agreed, the identical narrative across multiple celebrities is a red flag. Fact-checking is crucial to avoid spreading misinformation.
Disinformation campaigns are a growing concern, especially in sensitive industries like mining and energy. Fact-checking and critical thinking are essential to cut through the noise.
Curious to see how this plays out for Amazon. Brand loyalty is powerful, but reputational damage can still hurt sales if not managed carefully.
Good point. Amazon will need to carefully navigate any political fallout to protect its market dominance.
It’s impressive that Amazon has maintained its brand appeal despite these political allegations. Consumer loyalty is a powerful asset, but the company will need to address any valid concerns.
The mining and energy sectors are closely tied to politics and leadership, so this type of political influence peddling doesn’t surprise me. Transparency is key for public trust.
That’s a fair observation. The intersection of business, politics, and public perception is a complex dynamic in these industries.
The mining and energy sectors have long been associated with political influence. Transparency and accountability should be priorities to maintain public confidence.
It’s worrying to see foreign actors spreading fabricated stories to undermine public trust. Fact-checking and media literacy are crucial to combat this type of manipulation.
This disinformation campaign seems designed to create a false narrative and sow division. We should be vigilant about verifying claims, especially in sensitive political areas.
Interesting that there’s no backlash against Amazon despite the Bezos-Trump connection. Speaks to the power of Amazon’s brand and consumer loyalty, I suppose.
That’s a good point. Amazon’s dominance and consumer appeal seems to outweigh any political affiliations.