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Fake “Will Ferrell” Twitter Account Exploits Trayvon Martin Tragedy

3:22 pm, March 26th, 2012

(GettyImages.com)

A fake Will Ferrell Twitter account duped news outlets into believing the star had entered the discussion about slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, supposedly promising charitable donations and demanding capital punishment for Martin’s killer.

Over the weekend, @RealFerrellWill – which does NOT belong to the actual Ferrell, who does NOT tweet – told followers, “R.I.P. Trayvon Martin. For every R-T this tweet gets, $1 will be donated to the #TrayvonMartinFoundation, which helps counteract racism.”

The fake “Ferrell” tweeted multiple times about the matter, at one point stating, “I truly believe that [shooter George Zimmerman] should have the death penalty.”

But while many celebs have actually commented on the situation, these fake quotes don’t belong to the real actor.

Once again: Ferrell does NOT tweet.

Even though the account was labeled a “parody,” CNN and other outlets attributed the tweets to Ferrell, including the phony promise to donate to the non-existent “Trayvon Martin Foundation.”

The account has since been suspended.

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  • Regina1180

    Wouldn’t respectable outlets at least verify celeb authenticity before pimping thier tweets?

  • guest

    You’d think so, but apparently not. It makes me question quite a bit of what I read/watch on the news. It’s clear that news outlets are much more concerned with getting exclusives than facts. It reminds me of the Gabby Giffords/Tuscon shooting (and many other instances); I heard so many news outlets stating that so and so “has EXCLUSIVELY confirmed that Gabby Giffords has died.” It seems like many broadcasters forget about the investigation part of journalism.

    But back to the subject at hand, how is doing this funny or entertaining? I don’t get how these people sleep at night, exploiting a family’s pain and suffering for some kind of weird joke. Pathetic.

  • http://twitter.com/MaryEmBern MeeZee

    Twitter verifies celebrity accounts with a white check in a blue circle next to the name. If it doesn’t have that mark, one can not assume it is really the celebrity. I don’t know why it is so difficult for all these gullible people to grasp this.

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