2 like 23 dislike
in General Factchecking by Genius (47.3k points)
Disney bought Jeffrey Epstein's island to build a theme park.
by Newbie (260 points)
0 0
This statement is clearly untrue. I have surfed through this website time and time again and have seen in their "about" section of the website. The first paragraph in this website states that "Mouse Trap News is the world’s best satire and parody site. We write fake stories about Disney Parks stuff. From Disney Park announcements to Disney Hotel and resort news to made-up Disney partnerships, you can be assured that anything you read here is not true, real, or accurate, but it is fun." Aside from this, there is no evidence about the fact that Disney had even considering buying Jeffrey Epstein's Island to build a theme park. In fact, another website had also fact-checked this and proved that this was wrong the second this "fact" or "news" had been released.

https://mousetrapnews.com/about/

https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/article-about-disney-buying-epstein-island-is-satire-2024-04-22/
by Newbie (240 points)
0 0
This claim is completely untrue. Immediately after doing extra research, the first few things to pop up on a google search claim that this is complete satire and untruthful. This is a pretty recent article and it is clearly trying to use clickbait to jump on the Epstein island story that surfaced around the time of the article. One major thing that stood out when looking at this article is that there is no name given, only the news source that posted this claim is seen, and the quality of the post seems very low. After doing more than just a google search, I found that both Snoops, and USA Today both wrote this article off as satire. USA Today claims that this is from a satirical website, however "The Facebook post is an example of what could be called stolen satire." as they say. The satire seems to come from the fact that the allegations on what happened on Epstein Island are horrific, which is just the opposite of a Disney park. There are false claims in this article as well, most prominent one having to be that Epstein was "great" and has now passed away. While the headline does in fact aline with the article, this seems like just a joke of a post, only used to make people laugh that have a twisted sense of humor.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2024/04/12/epstein-island-sold-to-disney-satire-fact-check/73292777007/
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/disney-bought-epsteins-island/

https://mousetrapnews.com/the-walt-disney-company-buys-epstein-island/
by Newbie (240 points)
0 0
Yeah, and there are many different websites that back the claim up that this is false, such as USA Today, and Snopes. This is completely satirical and suppose to be a joke, however Facebook users see this claim without the original website, which is known for posting fake news, which is why so many people actually believed this.
by Newbie (240 points)
0 0
That is a really good point about social media. Things that are clear jokes can be taken out of context and then people online will think that the information they receive is true. This is why misinformation spreads so easily. Social media makes it so easy for posts to go up that can spread so much falseness.
by Newbie (200 points)
0 0
While reading this article, I can easily tell that this is entirely satire even down to the "evidence" with who the sources talked to. The website that was used, MouseTrap News also has many other satirical articles that are meant to be a joke. There is no real evidence and no other sources that back up its outlandish claims, thus leading the article to clearly be fake. But, because this article was posted on social media, the people were quick to believe it without really reading the contents in the article.

59 Answers

1 like 0 dislike
by Newbie (250 points)
This claim is completely false. There is no evidence anywhere that Disney has bought Jeffery Epstein's island let alone reach out to do so. The article was also originally posted on a satire website.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2024/04/12/epstein-island-sold-to-disney-satire-fact-check/73292777007/
1 like 0 dislike
by Newbie (240 points)

This is not true. The claim that Disney purchased Epstein's island started as satire (see USA Today article -- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2024/04/12/epstein-island-sold-to-disney-satire-fact-check/73292777007/). The article claiming it to be correct uses misleading and vague phrases starting with things like "according to official statements," and "according to a top real estate appraiser," instead of attributing any information.

0 like 0 dislike
by Newbie (300 points)
This information is not true as we look through the information that is presented to us we can see that it is not accurate, and that the website provides no actual information that can be backed by any trusted news source. we don't see any finical records, no link to show us proof of this purchase, nothing that can tie Disney to the purchase of Jeffrey Epstein's island. by factchecking we can see this website is attempting to fool people and spread misinformation to their readers.
0 like 0 dislike
by Novice (600 points)

This claim, written by Mouse Trap News, seems entirely invalid. When trying to verify the claim in the article's headline, “The Walt Disney Company Buys Epstein Island,” I searched for other sources who could confirm this as fact. Many well-known and larger media companies, such as USA Today and IMDb, have said that the claim from Mouse Trap News is entirely “satire.” According to Mouse Trap News’ own website, they attest to being “the world’s best satire and parody site,” therefore discrediting the information they share. In the “About” section of the outlet’s website, they even state, “We write fake stories about Disney Parks stuff” and “We write 100% made-up parody and satire stories for your enjoyment.” Their main goal, according to what is written on their website, seems to be gaining attraction, views, and the attention of Dinsey themselves. This should give readers an instant red flag when looking at anything the company publishes.

From my research, they seem to be the only company publishing this information as fact and there is nowhere on their website that sites where they received their information, which is discrediting as well. Additionally, an article by a more trusted source, CNBC, completely contradicts the claim by Mouse Trap News, stating that billionaire Stephen Deckoff bought Jeffery Epstein’s islands, not Disney.

Overall, Mouse Trap News themselves don’t even want people to think they are credible, so readers should not believe their claim about Disney buying Epstein Island.        

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2024/04/12/epstein-island-sold-to-disney-satire-fact-check/73292777007/ 

https://www.imdb.com/news/ni64557790/ 

https://mousetrapnews.com/about/#:~:text=Mouse%20Trap%20News%20is%20the,accurate%2C%20but%20it%20is%20fun

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/jeffrey-epstein-private-islands-bought-by-billionaire.html

Satire
0 like 0 dislike
by Apprentice (1.2k points)

After reviewing the article by Mouse trap news and closely inspecting their “sources,” it is clear that The Walt Disney company did not in fact buy Epstein Island to build another theme park. When picking apart this claim and investigating resources, it can be seen that this writer does not have much backing to their claim. Their vocabulary when attempting to use evidence consists of: “According to official statements, many people are suggesting, according to a top real estate appraiser…” The writer also states that Disney has secret underground fights which means it is likely Disney could be keeping things from their consumers. However, this claim is also vouched for by the same news outlet, therefore, not as reliable either. When researching elsewhere, opposing claims shut down this theory. On a more reliable news source like Yahoo, the writer claims that Mouse trap news is actually satire and not a reliable source for news, trends, or drama. The writer also claims that because Epstein is such a widespread name and Disney is so popular, any news revolving either gains the most traction, multiplying the amount of theories and misinformation.

USA Today also claims that both of Epstein's islands are actually owned by a financier since 2023 and no reports prove that they have been sold again. Furthermore, there are a variety of sections on the Mouse trap news website. One of these sections include the ABOUT section where you will find the purpose and motives of the website. The about page states that they do in fact write fake stories about Disney parks that they wish were true. Therefore, the entire website is satire and the claim made is untrue. 

False
0 like 0 dislike
by Novice (590 points)
This claim and others like it on other platforms were meant to be satire. Other Claims like this one were made during the time Disney was being canceled by right-wingers due to it pushing "Woke" Ideologies onto kids. This claim is categorically false.

https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/article-about-disney-buying-epstein-island-is-satire-2024-04-22/
False
0 like 0 dislike
by Newbie (300 points)

This claim is false. This claim was from an article by Mouse Trap News, a satirical news source. In their about page on their website, Mouse Trap News says “you can be assured that anything you read here is not true, real, or accurate, but it is fun.” According to NPR, Jeffery Epstein’s islands, Great St. James and Little St. James were purchased by Financier Stephen Deckoff, not Disney. Disney does own a private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay, which is used as a stop for their cruise ships. 

“About.” Mouse Trap News, https://mousetrapnews.com/about/. Accessed 13 October 2024.

Chappell, Bill. “Jeffrey Epstein's two private islands will be turned into a resort.” NPR, 4 May 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173956903/jeffrey-epstein-island-sold-st-james. Accessed 13 October 2024.

“Fact Check: Article about Disney buying Epstein island is satire.” Reuters, 22 April 2024, https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/article-about-disney-buying-epstein-island-is-satire-2024-04-22/. Accessed 13 October 2024.

Satire

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