Topline
A viral tweet falsely claimed Wednesday that singers Lana Del Rey and Lizzo traded back-and-forth insults on TikTok—but the tweet was posted by a satirical pop culture updates account on X, formerly known as Twitter, that looks similar to real entertainment news sources but frequently goes viral for posts that confuse some X users into believing outrageous claims about celebrities.
Some parody accounts on X look similar to news accounts Pop Crave and Pop Base, confusing users with … [+]
Key Facts
The X account, Drop Pop, claimed in a post viewed more than 20 million times that Lizzo insulted Lana Del Rey’s music sales in a TikTok comment, while Del Rey hurled back an insult about Lizzo’s weight—though the comments are fabricated.
Drop Pop doubled down in another tweet, posting a screenshot that appears to show their faux argument heated up as the singers continued to trade insults, garnering an additional 5 million views.
Buried deep in Drop Pop’s bio on X, however, is a disclaimer that it is a “parody account, everything posted on the account is satirical and for humorous purposes, our posts are not meant to be taken seriously.”
Drop Pop is one of several accounts that look similar to accounts that tweet actual pop culture news, including the widely followed Pop Crave and Pop Base, but have confused some X users into believing celebrities have said or done outlandish and offensive things.
Another account, “Poo Crave,” has a profile picture and header nearly identical to Pop Crave aside from the one changed letter, though it also admits its content is “pop parody chaos” in its bio.
Key Background
One “Poo Crave” announcement went viral over the summer following singer Justin Timberlake’s arrest for driving while intoxicated. In the now-deleted tweet, Poo Crave falsely claimed Timberlake “allegedly had traces of molly, poppers, Truvada, and coke in his bloodstream following his DWI arrest in New York,” prompting confusion online and duping plenty of confused social media users. The false claim prompted Reuters to publish a fact-check, clarifying no reports indicated Timberlake had drugs in his system. Timberlake told police he only had “one martini” at a bar and refused a breathalyzer test. Timberlake later struck a plea deal, pleading guilty to driving while impaired in exchange for a lesser sentence of a $500 fine and 25 hours of community service.
Surprising Fact
The parody accounts, including Poo Crave and Drop Pop, are verified on X, bearing blue checkmarks indistinguishable from those sported by Pop Crave and Pop Base. This likely makes it harder for users to distinguish between the real and fake sources at first glance and is a common criticism of X under the ownership of Elon Musk, who overhauled Twitter’s verification system. Previously, verification was only applied to accounts owned by celebrities, businesses, government officials or other public figures. Now, users can purchase monthly subscriptions to X Premium, which gives verified checkmarks, among other features.
What Are Pop Crave And Pop Base?
Pop Crave, which has 1.9 million X followers, and Pop Base, which has 1.7 million followers, are pop culture update accounts that frequently post news about music, film and politics. The accounts generally cite news updates from other outlets instead of posting original reports, though Pop Crave also operates a website that features interviews with celebrities and has posted exclusive promotional material for film and television releases. The accounts are known for their speedy posts, which helps make their tweets frequently go viral, and they have achieved notoriety for their political coverage. In 2020, Pop Crave garnered attention for posting Decision Desk HQ’s call that President Joe Biden won the election, more than 24 hours before major television news networks and the Associated Press called the race. Last year, Biden’s X account reshared a Pop Crave post, which cited a CNN report about Ticketmaster ditching “junk fees.” Both accounts continued to cover the 2024 election, often eclipsing major news outlets in terms of social media engagement. A post from Pop Base quoting Vice President Kamala Harris’ concession speech was liked more than 330,000 times and viewed more than 9 million times, while a similar post from the Associated Press about Harris’ speech earned just 714 likes and 220,000 views.
Further Reading
How two pop culture Twitter accounts turned into the internet’s wire service (Vox)
Fact Check: Posts on drug traces in Justin Timberlake’s blood stem from parody account (Reuters)