A Facebook post, opens new tab dated Nov. 29 reads: “SHOCK: Denzel Washington turned down a $200 million role at Disney, announced he would not participate in ‘Woke Culture’” and links to an article on a website with no identifying information that lists other fake celebrity-news headlines.
However, a spokesperson for the actor told Reuters in an email that there is “no truth” to the claims about Washington turning down Disney.
Facebook, opens new tab pages, opens new tab that identify themselves as satire shared a similar headline on Facebook earlier in November. The posts linked to a website, opens new tab called Zapon, which identifies itself as satirical and also concluded its story with the line: “This Is SATIRE, It’s Not TRUE.”
In May, Reuters addressed false claims that the actor had rejected a $50 million Disney project for being “too woke.” The headlines originated from the SpaceXMania website, which describes its content as “fake news, edgy analysis, and satire.”
Some social media users use the term “woke” pejoratively to describe liberal views on race, gender and sexuality and many websites use similar culture-war keywords to generate clicks.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has campaigned against “woke Disney” after the company’s then-CEO criticized Florida legislation in 2022 that restricted classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Conservative commentators have also criticized Disney for casting Halle Bailey, a Black actress, as Ariel in the 2023 movie The Little Mermaid.
Reuters has previously addressed misleading reports about celebrities allegedly turning down Disney collaborations because of the company’s alleged “woke” agenda.
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