On March 31, 2024, the Facebook page SpaceX Fanclub published a post with side-by-side images of Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg and a caption claiming the two actors had started a "non-woke" film production studio.
(esspots.com)
The post went viral. At the time of this writing, it had gained 230,000 reactions and 10,100 comments, and it had been reshared 11,000 times. "I bet we will get good moral movies by them," wrote one commenter. "AWESOME NEWS! SOUNDS LIKE AN AMAZING TEAM!!" said another.
The Facebook account, SpaceX Fanclub, pinned a comment on the post linking to a story on esspots.com. That article featured the same images of Gibson and Wahlberg and read:
Breaking: Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg Join Hands to Create a Non-Woke Film Production Studio, "Hollywood Is Saved"
In a bold move shaking up Hollywood, veteran actors Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg have teamed up to launch a new film production studio dedicated to preserving traditional storytelling and avoiding the pitfalls of woke culture. The announcement comes as a breath of fresh air for many in the industry who have grown weary of the pervasive influence of political correctness and social activism in filmmaking.
This item was not a factual recounting of real-life events. Esspots.com, the originator of the claim, is a website that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. According to its "About Us" page:
Welcome to the US page of Esspots (A Subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com specializing in Satire and Parody News), your one-stop destination for satirical news and commentary about the United States of America. Our team of writers and editors is dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest in fake news and absurdity, all with a healthy dose of humor and satire.
Further, SpaceX Fanclub, the Facebook account that authored the viral post, had a similar disclaimer on its page: "We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real."
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.