Fact Check: Online Ad Claims Fox News Canceled Laura Ingraham's Show. Here Are the Facts
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Claim:
Fox News canceled its show "The Ingraham Angle" in early May 2024.
Rating:
On May 8, 2024, a rumor originating in Facebook and Instagram ads from a Facebook page named Xenocity — a page with no followers featuring a phone number with an Indonesian country code — claimed Fox News canceled conservative host Laura Ingraham's TV show, "The Ingraham Angle." The ads claimed, "You'll never see Laura Ingraham again! A sad end for Laura Ingraham today! Prayers!"
The ads appeared differently whether users viewed them on Facebook (left) or Instagram (right).
Users who clicked on the ads visited an article on the website borat2.ink. The headline of that article read, "Lawsuits Pile Up As Sponsors Threaten Fox - 'The Ingraham Angle' is Officially Canceled. MacCallum Eyes Timeslot Takeover."
Fox News never published this scam article.
However, this rumor about the cancellation of Ingraham's show was false. Scammers designed borat2.ink to resemble the layout of Fox News' website, and both the ads and article were part of a promotional ruse to fool users into believing Ingraham used CBD gummies to cure health issues. The article was advertising Makers CBD Gummies, Bloom CBD Gummies, Harmony's Peak CBD Gummies or other products.
According to the completely false and scammy article, which was published on an unknown past date, unnamed doctors supposedly diagnosed Ingraham with early onset dementia. Ingraham's purported plan to battle the diagnosis sparked both "tension" with fellow Fox News host Martha MacCallum and threats of lawsuits from the pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer:
After months of research, Laura Ingraham was finally connected with a team of 10 world-renowned doctors running a clinical trial of a new supplement that was taking the health community by storm. It showed early signs of having significant abilities to stop the spread and in some cases even reverse many common diseases and types of cancers usually brought on by old age, like dementia. It was being billed as "the perfect daily supplement for anyone over 50 years old," and most importantly, it was now looking for a trustworthy and powerful investor to get it to the market. After trialing it himself with unbelieveable [sic] results, Laura Ingraham bought the formula so she could get it into the hands of Americans as fast as possible.
...
Her product, Harmony Peak CBD Gummies, is one quarter of the price and 74% more effective than those being offered by Pfizer and other pharmaceutical conglomerates. And after seeing a massive decline in their sales, Pfizer started calling for Laura Ingraham's company to halt operations, saying:
"We're happy Laura Ingraham something to replace opioids, pain killers, and save American lives but her company is engaging in unacceptable business practices. She must cease production immediately and stop offering Harmony Peak CBD Gummies to the public."
The article also falsely claimed Fox News host Sean Hannity, media personality Ann Coulter, actor Kevin Costner and other celebrities endorsed CBD gummies. To be clear, no famous person has endorsed "miracle" CBD gummies for supposedly "instantly and permanently [reversing] dementia." According to the British Alzheimer's Society, "There are no research studies that prove cannabis, or products such as cannabis oil (CBD oil), can stop, slow, reverse or prevent the diseases that cause dementia."
Snopes previously reported on similar, misleading "celebrity endorsements" of CBD gummies and keto gummies. Such rumors have targeted former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and ABC News Chief Health and Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton.
Sources:
"Cannabis, CBD Oil and Dementia." Alzheimer's Society, https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/treatments/alternative-therapies/cannabis-cbd-oil-and-dementia.
Jordan Liles. "Makers CBD Gummies Scam and Reviews with Fake Article About Laura Ingraham." YouTube, 4 Apr. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdSMTbE8mH8.
