Did Whoopi Goldberg, Megan Rapinoe and Taylor Swift announce they were leaving the United States, presumably after Donald Trump's return as president? No, that's not true: The article cited in the comments of a social media post making this claim did not offer any quotes or sources to confirm this. A review of the social media accounts of Goldberg, Rapinoe and Swift brought up no mention of it. No news websites indexed by Google News have reported about any such announcement as of January 28, 2025.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on January 21, 2025. It said:
BREAKING NEWS: Whoopi Goldberg, Megan Rapinoe, and Taylor Swift decide to leave the United States.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Jan 28 19:02:32 2025 UTC)
The comment section contained a link to an article posted on Starnews23.com (archived here) with a headline that echoed the claim in the post. The article opened:
Iп a move that has seпt shockwaves throυgh the worlds of sports, eпtertaiпmeпt, aпd ecoпomics, veteraп talk show host Whoopi Goldberg, soccer icoп Megaп Rapiпoe, aпd pop sυperstar Taylor Swift have all aппoυпced they are leaviпg the Uпited States. Their υпexpected decisioпs to relocate have prompted both coпfυsioп aпd coпcerп amoпg their faпs, as well as experts iп varioυs iпdυstries. This bold move is already beiпg seeп as a tυrпiпg poiпt, пot jυst for these iпflυeпtial figυres, bυt for the broader cυltυral laпdscape.
The article never mentioned Trump, saying the decision was based on political tension:
While each of these pυblic figυres has carved oυt their owп path, their decisioпs to leave America come amidst a backdrop of moυпtiпg social, political, aпd ecoпomic teпsioпs.
There was no evidence in the post nor the article to confirm the claim. No sources were cited and none of the three or their public representatives were quoted. The article did not include any links to credible news reports that the three had announced they were leaving the country.
Goldberg's personal Instagram account did not make any mention of her leaving the U.S., nor did Swift's (archived here) or Rapinoe's (archived here).
A Google News search using keywords from the claim about Goldberg (archived here), Rapinoe and Swift produced no credible news media reports but did include other fact checks regarding the claim.
Lead Stories reached out to representatives for Goldberg, Rapinoe and Swift and will update the story when a response is received.
At the time this was written, PolitiFact had reviewed the same claim.
More Lead Stories fact checks regarding Goldberg can be found here, Rapinoe here and Swift here.
