In August 2024, news spread on the Internet that a gold-plated iPhone was stolen from an American rapper who attended the Olympics. We decided to check what such messages are based on.
Telegram channels wrote about the theft of the musician’s phone “Nevzorov"(590,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Tsargrad-TV"(141,000), "Mislivets Egor"(89,000), "Special Operation Z"(74,000), "Angry journalist"(50,000), etc. The news was also shared by social network users ("VKontakte", X) And blogging platforms. Some informational articles have also been written about this portals. The authors of many publications refer to data from the Paris police, which, in addition to the rapper’s statement, allegedly received more than 10,000 complaints of theft.
American rapper Snoop Dogg arrived to the 2024 Olympics in Paris to take part in the final stage relay races Olympic flame. The artist also took an active part in the Olympic Games as a special correspondent for the American television channel NBC.
Despite the fact that Snoop Dogg is a global star, not a single reputable media outlet (French or international) wrote about the theft of his phone. At the same time, the authors of most posts about the incident refer to data from the Paris police. "Verified" studied website The Paris Police Prefecture is a division of the French Ministry of Internal Affairs that provides police and some administrative services to residents of the capital and three adjacent departments: Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne. In this source, a message about the theft of Snoop Dogg's phone could not be found. The rapper himself did not talk about the theft on his social networks (Facebook, X, Instagram).
The earliest news publication that “Verified” was able to find appeared on August 12 at 12:32 Moscow time in the Telegram channel “The Empire is very evil"(27,000 views at the time of writing this analysis). This channel publishes satirical news, which is then often taken at face value, although its description states: “Caution, possible fake news and harsh satire. What is written is a work of fiction, all coincidences are accidental.” The fact that the story was invented precisely by the authors of the channel is evidenced by fast, published by them at 23:03 on the same day: it contains a screenshot of the news on the Tsargrad-TV Telegram channel and the comment “Gentlemen, we are starting to collect the #harvest. In the comments you can tell me where you will find our news.”
“Verified” has more than once refuted messages that appeared on the “The Empire is Very Evil” channel and then spread under the guise of real news. For example, the channel joked that Alla Pugacheva an expensive watch was stolen at the funeral of fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin, which hobbyhorsing in Russia was officially recognized as a sport and that a couple from Kazan named their newborn son Chushpan (then the series “The Boy’s Word” was just being released, where this word was used by the characters very often, albeit in a negative way).
Thus, there is no confirmation that Snoop Dogg's phone or other personal belongings were stolen at the Paris Olympics. The message spread across social networks and blogs is nothing more than a joke from a Telegram channel that specializes in satirical news.
Cover photo: X @SnoopDogg
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