Story about Hank Williams Jr. resigning from CMT originated as satire | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Hank Williams Jr. resigned from CMT's board of directors in support of Jason Aldean

A July 22 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) features side-by-side pictures of country musicians Jason Aldean and Hank Williams Jr.

"Hank Williams Jr Resigns From CMT's Board of Directors: 'I Support Jason Aldean,'" reads text included in the post.

The post garnered more than 6,000 shares in three days. Similar versions of the claim have been shared on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The story originated as satire. A spokesperson for the network told USA TODAY the claim is false.

Story originated as satire

CMT stopped airing the music video for Aldean's new song, "Try That In A Small Town," after it sparked criticism with some perceiving it as being in favor of gun violence and lynching. Aldean, who survived a mass shooting at a music festival while he performed in 2017, responded to the criticism with a lengthy statement denying the song encouraged violence.

While several celebrities, including musician Travis Tritt and actor Kevin Sorbo, have voiced support for Aldean, Williams Jr. isn't one of them.

A CMT spokesperson told USA TODAY in an email the claim is "entirely false."

Ken Levitan, Williams Jr.'s manager, also told USA TODAY in an email that the claim is false. Levitan said Williams Jr. has never served on the network's board of directors.

The claim originated in an article published by the Dunning-Kruger Times, a subsidiary of America's Last Line of Defense satirical network. The website describes itself as satire on its "About Us" page, saying, "Everything on this website is fiction."

The article says Williams Jr. has been on CMT's board of directors since 2004, but the network doesn't have a board. It also states a person named "Joe Barron" is CMT's CEO, which is the same name the site has used to refer to the CEO of Publix, the CEO of Levi's and the chairman of Disney in previous stories.

Fact check: Claim Jason Aldean replacing Garth Brooks as the CMA awards host is stolen satire

The article is an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where stories written as satire and presented that way originally are reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.

Christopher Blair, the creator of America's Last Line of Defense satirical network, previously told USA TODAY in an email, "Nothing on any of those websites will ever be 'real' unless it comes true on its own."

Williams Jr. hasn't made any public statements about the controversy surrounding Aldean's music video on his website or social media accounts.

USA TODAY previously debunked similar stolen satire claims revolving around the controversial music video, including claims that Aldean is replacing Garth Brooks as the host of the Country Music Awards and that Luke Bryan removed his music videos from CMT in support of Aldean.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

The claim has also been debunked by PolitiFact and the Associated Press.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Hank Williams Jr. didn't quit CMT board of directors | Fact check