Bow Wow isn’t the only one fronting on the Internet.
Even though rapper Bow Wow has been caught this time, catching the rapper or other fake news writers in the act has proven to be rather difficult.
“Most of us are tricked by fake news stories because we never actually read past the headlines,” explained personal security expert Robert Siciliano.
“Writers of these stories make sure that these headlines are eye-catching and believable, in addition to viral. When we read a headline of a fake story, we often get the wrong impression of what the story is about. This is on purpose,” Siciliano said.
Here are a few instances of rappers who went viral, for the worst reasons.
1. The Soulja Boy Challenge
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOx6DNlAtjw/
Soulja Boy played himself in December 2016, after he gave an interview with DJ Vlad, in which he explained a violent struggle that occurred back in 2008. According to Soulja, he had to shoot home invaders, who were trying to rob him. The rapper then became the subject of #theSoulja BoyChallenge, which temporarily took over the Internet in 2016.
2. Kevin Gates Busted by @FakeWatchBusta
Back in 2014, Kevin Gates was a free man. But he made some headlines for the wrong reasons when he was among the many rappers who were called out by the FakeWatchBusta account on Instagram. Kevin told a story of robbing the fake watch from an NFL player and eventually realized the watch was fake. But Kevin followed up with a post of a real Rolex, which was cosigned as real, by the FakeWatchBusta account.
3. Drake vs Muslims
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjhG2b4rcKY
Last year, Drake became extremely emotional on his “Boy Meets World” tour after a stop in London turned into controversy. News spread around the world, claiming that Drake had attacked Muslims after he asked four women in the crowd to remove their hijabs. The controversy grew so large, the Drake finally replied and blasted the media for spreading what he labeled “fake news.”
4. Bow Wow Dead
Earlier this year, Bow Wow made was in the headlines – and of course, it was for the wrong reason. A fake news article was published titled “Shad Moss a.k.a. Bow Wow Was Found Dead Inside His Miami Home.” That report claimed that Bow Wow died from taking benzodiazepine, which also killed Michael Jackson. The new story said the L.A. Coroner’s office ruled Bow Wow’s death a homicide, The story was soon debunked by the Bow, who magically started sharing Facebook memes, shortly after the stories were published.
