Did Elon Musk say he would release a "bombshell" client list tied to rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs and financier Jeffrey Epstein? No, that's not true: This originated from SpaceX Fanclub, a Facebook page with a satire disclaimer: "We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real." The post included a link to the self-described satire website esspots.com.
The claim appeared in a post shared to Facebook on November 18, 2024, (archived here) with text overlaid atop photos of Combs and Musk that read:
Musk Sets January 20th for Bombshell Diddy and Epstein Client List Release, 'We Expose Them All'
A caption that accompanied the post read:
Musk Sets January 20th for Bombshell Diddy and Epstein Client List Release, 'We Expose Them All' - SATIRE
Below is how the post looked at the time of this writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken Fri Nov 19 10:33:54 2024 UTC)
The meme has a "Rated Satire" watermark in the top left corner, and the Facebook page that posted it, SpaceX Fanclub, is self-described as a "Satire/Parody" page with an intro that reads:
We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real.
The first comment under the post contains a link to the full article (archived here) on the website esspots.com. At the top of the article, the word "SATIRE" is visible twice, as shown in a screenshot of the website below:
(Source: Esspots screenshot taken Fri Nov 29 16:56:54 2024 UTC)
The article ends with the statement: "NOTE: This is SATIRE; It's Not True."
Esspots' "About Us" page (archived here) has a clear disclaimer that, at the time of this publication, read:
Welcome to the US page of Esspots (A Subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com specializing in Satire and Parody News), your one-stop destination for satirical news and commentary about the United States of America. Our team of writers and editors is dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest in fake news and absurdity, all with a healthy dose of humor and satire.
Lead Stories has a Satire Policy published that explains when we fact check satire and when we don't:
What do we consider not to be satire?
Sometimes articles from humor or satire publications are copied by other sites and presented as real. In such cases we will label the copies as 'False'.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims about Elon Musk or Sean "Diddy" Combs can be found here and here.
