14 Times Celebrity Lies Got Fact-Checked
Why are the rich and famous so desperate to also seem cool?
Robert Pattinson
He told Matt Lauer an elaborate story about how a clown died the first time he ever went to the circus: “His little car exploded. The joke car exploded on him.” This lie was so outrageous that it picked up more traction in the news cycle than he expected, and he had to address it in another interview a few weeks later: “I actually made the whole thing up. It’s coming back to haunt me.”
Lily Allen
The singer claimed that she turned down a prominent role in Game of Thrones, the sister of Theon Greyjoy, because “I would have had to go on a horse.” But her brother, Alfie Allen, actually played the part of Theon, and had the inside scoop: “The only thing I’m going to say on that is that it’s not true. And also that Gemma Whelan was always their first choice for the part.”
Ryan Lochte
A pretty solid Olympic career has been overshadowed by a weird bathroom party in 2016. He and some teammates claimed to have been robbed at gunpoint inside a gas station bathroom, but Rio police clarified that the dudes had trashed a bathroom, and armed guards forced them to pay for the damages and leave.
Sharon Stone
She had long claimed to be a member of MENSA, as evidenced by her participation in a MENSA program at her high school — which didn’t exist. She took it back in 2002, but it’s unclear if we can trust her other claims that she has an IQ of 154 or that she was “a nerdy, ugly duckling” in school.
Justin Bieber
In 2014, he repeatedly insinuated that he either bought or received a private jet, even posting a picture of himself inside of one and captioning it “New jet for Christmas, and she’s beautiful.” But TMZ reported that he just chartered it, certifying him as a “poser.”
Hilaria Baldwin
She spent her career letting the media refer to her as Spanish and Latina, and once even performatively forgot the English word for “cucumber.” When the truth was finally reported — that her parents only moved to Spain later in their lives, and Hilaria herself was born in Boston — she blamed the elaborate ruse on the media, saying, “I’ve tried in the past to be clear, but sometimes people don’t always report and write what you say.”
Suki Waterhouse
After claiming that she washes her hair with Coca-Cola to give it a tousled look, a bunch of beauty outlets put it to the test. Later, when a Twitter user pressed her on it, she came clean: “ok… i have to be honest, i got bored doing hair interviews and said this. i have never done this ma’am.”
Sam Smith
They were too sick to greet their fans, but not too sick to do karaoke. They apologized to Nashville fans who had expected to see them after a show, tweeting they were “still not feeling 100% and need to sleep!!” But their Instagram followers noticed an inconsistency later that night, when they posted a video of themself singing Beyonce at karaoke.
Milli Vanilli
The R&B duo were outed as a quartet by their own producer, Frank Farian, who spilled the beans that Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus were merely the face of the operation, and they were lip-synching music sung by singers Brad Howell and John Davis. The Grammys revoked Morvan and Pilatus’ award after that.
Paloma Faith
She was locked in a heated battle with a Wikipedia editor, who ultimately spilled her secret publicly. She told her record label that she was 23 (when she was actually 27), and changed her own Wikipedia to match the lie, but the rogue editor provided a copy of her birth certificate to Wikipedia, who then blocked her from editing her age.
Bow Wow
Posting a photo of a private jet, the rapper wrote, “Travel day. NYC press run for Growing Up Hip Hop. Lets gooo.” — then went and got on a commercial plane. A Twitter user posted a picture of him sitting with everyone else, and said, “So this guy lil Bow Wow is on my flight to NY but on Instagram he posted a picture of a private jet captioned ‘traveling to NY today.’”
Elon Musk
He’s not known for being a very hands-on dad, so his claim that “my firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat” sounded a little suspicious. His ex-wife provided more context on the tragic SIDS-related death: “And not that it matters to anyone except me, because it is one of the most sacred and defining moments of my life, but I was the one who was holding him.”
Hulk Hogan
The Hulkster claimed in his autobiography that Elvis became a big fan of his after seeing him perform in Memphis, but fans quickly pointed out that Elvis didn’t perform in Memphis until 1979, two years after Elvis died.
Hulk Hogan (Again)
He once said that Lars Ulrich asked him to play bass in Metallica. When Ulrich denied this, Hogan humiliatingly clarified that actually, he’d just sent an audition tape to the band.