–1 vote
in General Factchecking by Genius (43.4k points)
Venus Williams refused to play against a transgender female athlete.
by (140 points)
False, the photo used to talk about Venus is actually her sister, Serena. There is no evidence going around that Venus is against playing against a transgender.
by (150 points)
This claim is false, after research, I found that the claim had no trace of being true. Venus has no record of being placed to play against a transgender. The photo used was a past photo of her sister Serena. USA Today said on their website after fact-checking, "The claim originated on a satirical website. There is no evidence Venus Williams forfeited a tennis match to a transgender woman." The post was created on and originated on an unreliable and fake website.
by (100 points)
This comment is extremely false and entirely out of context. A satire website originally produced this claim without evidence. The picture in the article was not of Venus but instead of her sister Serena from years ago. They even used a fake quote that Venus or Serena never said. No credible news sources supported this story and wrote about it. Also, a quick google search to see Venus's latest games shows she hasn't had a recent forfeit or has played against the opponent the article claimed she was scheduled to compete against.
by (150 points)
This claim is false as the quote posted in the picture stems from a fake and satire news outlet that goes by America’s Last Line of Defense. The news outlet themselves make it clear they identify as satire on their Facebook page.

19 Answers

0 votes
by Newbie (200 points)
This statement is false. After clicking on the Instagram link, the reel depicts Venus' sister, Serena Williams. Even with that mistake, both Serena Williams and Venus have never refused to play against a transgender woman. According to a recent article by USA Today, the original statement started from a Facebook user called "America's Last Line of Defense". It's a satirical network that labels itself as satire in the "About Page". Everything that's posted on there is a parody. There's no other confirmation that this statement is true, only further confirmation that it is a lie.
False
0 votes
by Newbie (240 points)
This claim is false and is misinformation. The post originated from a satire website, where Venus' sister Serena is shown side by side with a photo of Amelie Mauresmo, a retired tennis athlete who is not trans. The site itself says all images should be considered altered and satirical. In other words, this claim was taken out of context.

https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/posts-about-venus-williams-forfeiting-match-against-trans-athlete-are-satire-2024-04-22/
False
0 votes
by (180 points)

The claim alleging that Venus Williams refused to play against a transgender female athlete has been thoroughly debunked and found to be false. It came from a source notorious for fabricating stories, namely America’s Last Line of Defense, which is widely recognized for its satirical content. The misinformation was further compounded by the use of an erroneous photo, misattributed to Venus when it actually depicted her sister Serena.

Credible media outlets, including USA Today, have conducted thorough investigations into this claim and found no substantiating evidence to support it. In fact, USA Today stated, "The claim originated on a satirical website. There is no evidence Venus Williams forfeited a tennis match to a transgender woman."

This analysis underscores the importance of critically assessing information sources and fact-checking before accepting and spreading potentially misleading or false claims.

False
0 votes
by (180 points)
This claim is absolutely false. The photo linked here is not even of Venus Williams; in fact, it's her sister Serena. This claim was intentionally falsely produced by a famous conservation page called "Conservative Tears." There has been no credible news source that supports this claim. Nor any word from Venus Williams herself. According to Reuters, the tennis star alongside Serena in the photo listed above is Amelie Mauresmo - who is NOT trans. The Reuters article even says the claim is absolutely satire.

Link: https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/posts-about-venus-williams-forfeiting-match-against-trans-athlete-are-satire-2024-04-22/
0 votes
by Newbie (240 points)
This is false. This claim was originated from a satirical website. The website has a claim reading "Everything on this website is fiction". Venus has no forfeits listed and or matches against the player people are claiming she said this against. Even with the post making a satirical claim about Venus Williams, the article actually features a picture of her sister Serena Williams.
0 votes
by (140 points)
This comment is false and originated from a satirical website. This claim was made with no evidence to back it up. This was posted by a "news outer" that goes by America's Last Line of Defense. This outlet is known for being satirical and using false information. Fake quotes are being used and there are no credible sources. There is no evidence on Venus's schedule that she forfeited a game at all especially not against a transgender.
False
0 votes
by (140 points)
This claim is false as the quote posted is from an account that is for entertainment purposes and posts fake news constantly. Venus's sister Serena is the one who is actually in the photo. Neither sister has ever stated the quote and no news sources have commented on the exclamation.
False
0 votes
by Newbie (240 points)

This is a false claim because there are many articles The claim came from an article on a website that's part of a satirical network. The publishing network's Facebook page says "Nothing on this page is real." 

False
0 votes
by Newbie (200 points)

There is no evidence provided in the post that proves the claim that Venus Williams refused to play against a transgender female. In addition, the website and account that published this information didn't even include a picture of Venus they included a picture of her sister Serena. The website also claims that they are a satire website publishing disinformation with no evidence or supporting arguments to support their claims. An article published by USA Today says "The claim originated with the satirical network America’s Last Line of Defense, which labels itself as satire on its 'About Us' page, saying, 'Everything on this website is fiction.'" https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2024/04/19/venus-williams-forfeit-transgender-woman/73384731007/

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