A fake news item claims that Yelp is suing the creators of South Park over a recent episode that pokes fun at the site’s users.
You’re Not Yelping
In a 2015 South Park episode entitled “You’re Not Yelping” the show makes fun of overzealous Yelp users who flaunt their perceived power in order to receive free food. Yelpers are also compared to members of ISIS.
Soon after the South Park episode aired, a realistic-looking news item appeared on nbc.com.co, which has no affiliation with NBC. The false story, entitled, “Yelp Sues South Park For $10 Million Over Latest Episode,” was immediately circulated online in high volume. The story also appeared in Google News results, which perhaps gave it more credibility to some readers.
In the fake story, we read that Yelp was seeking $10 million in damages as a result of the episode. Bogus quotes by a Yelp spokesman along with Matt Stone and Trey Parker were also included.
After a flood of social media sharing of the fake article, Yelp responded with the following tweet:
As Abraham Lincoln once said, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet. #Satire #ItsAJoke #Chill pic.twitter.com/4G1BwCgwAZ
— Yelp (@Yelp) October 21, 2015
Bottom Line
Yelp isn’t suing the creators of South Park for $10 million after a recent episode poked fun of the site’s power users. The story was published on a fake NBC news site, and Yelp has responded to verify that the story was in fact bogus.
Watch the full episode below: