Fact check: Claim about a Kyle Rittenhouse lawsuit against Whoopi Goldberg is satire

Bayliss Wagner, USA TODAY
·4 min read
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The claim: A judge denied a motion to dismiss Kyle Rittenhouse lawsuit against Whoopi Goldberg

An article purporting to describe a $25 million defamation suit filed by Kyle Rittenhouse against comedian and "The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg gained wide traction online, with more than 14,000 people interacting with it on Facebook alone.

The April 24 article from the "Dunning-Kruger Times" claimed Rittenhouse filed a defamation suit against Goldberg in April 2022 and that a judge in the "Wisconsin Western District US Court of Writs and Affidavits" had denied Goldberg's motion to dismiss the case.

Rittenhouse became the subject of national attention during a November 2021 trial where he was acquitted of all charges related to the killing of two men during a 2020 protest in the wake of Jacob Blake's death in Kenosha, Wisc.

In comments on Facebook and Twitter posts about the claim, users celebrated the supposed win.

"Good for him," one user wrote. "I'm so happy to see that justice will be served finally!!"

"He'll get every dime and then some, according to experts," Facebook page America's Last Line of Defense captioned the article in an April 24 post.

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However, the story isn't real, nor is anything else posted by the Dunning-Kruger Times. It's part of a network of satirical sites and Facebook pages the creator said is designed to troll conservatives.

The verdict came more than a year after Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz.
The verdict came more than a year after Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz.

Article was fictional

While there is history between Rittenhouse and Goldberg, there is no lawsuit.

In February 2022, Rittenhouse told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he planned to create a fund that would support lawsuits against reporters and cited Goldberg as a potential target.

"Whoopi Goldberg is on the list," he said in the segment, according to the Guardian. "She called me a murderer after I was acquitted by a jury of my peers.”

In an episode of "The View" on ABC, Goldberg had said, "Two people were murdered. To me it’s murder. I’m sorry.”

The "Dunning-Kruger Times" discloses in its "about" page that it is part of America's Last Line of Defense, a "network of parody, satire and tomfoolery" run by Christopher Blair. Blair previously published a satirical article about a supposed Rittenhouse lawsuit against Goldberg and co-host Joy Behar in November 2021, USA TODAY reported.

All of the websites and Facebook pages in the network disclose in "about" pages that their content is made-up, though this disclaimer isn't visible on the Facebook posts themselves.

Fact check: False claim that Kyle Rittenhouse, lawyers sued 2 hosts of 'The View'

"I welcome every fact-check," Blair wrote in an email to USA TODAY. "I understand exactly why they're necessary."

Our rating: Satire

Based on our research, we rate SATIRE the claim that a judge denied a motion to dismiss Rittenhouse's lawsuit against Goldberg. There is no such lawsuit. The website where the claim originated discloses that it is satirical and that "nothing on this page is real."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: There is no Rittenhouse v. Goldberg lawsuit, despite claim