Has "Phillies Karen" been banned from various stadiums, concerts, and public events? No, that's not true: Stories making the false claims that the woman who became infamous as "Phillies Karen" after she took a ball from a boy at a Philadelphia baseball game are mass produced using artificial intelligence tools. The fake content, published on websites that mimic real news sites, is targeted at Americans by Facebook fan pages controlled mostly from Vietnam. As of the time of writing, the woman has not been publicly identified or banned from anywhere.
One example of the claim appeared in an article (archived here) published on the website us.feji.io on September 9, 2025, with a headline that read:
BREAKING NEWS: Eltoп Johп Drops the Hammer -- 'Phillies Kareп' Permaпeпtly Baппed From His Shows as He Warпs Faпs: "Disrespect Will Not Be Tolerated"...
This is what the article looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: screenshot of us.feji.io by Lead Stories)
The opening paragraphs of the article read:
Elton John Bans 'Phillies Karen' from His Concerts -- A Bold Stand on Fan Behavior Sparks Heated Debate
The music world is rarely short on drama, but Elton John has just added a new chapter that no one saw coming.
In a surprise announcement, the 77-year-old music legend declared a "permanent ban" on the woman widely dubbed "Phillies Karen" after she was filmed snatching a home run ball from a young boy celebrating his birthday at a Phillies-Marlins game.
The viral clip had already ignited national outrage -- but Elton's involvement has elevated the scandal into an international debate about respect, morality, and fan culture.
During a press briefing tied to the upcoming 50th anniversary tour of his landmark album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Elton took a moment away from celebrating music history to address the controversy.
"Anyone who is disruptive, aggressive, or disrespects others -- like the woman in the recent incident -- will not be welcome at my performances," Elton declared firmly.
The claim that Elton John talked about "Phillies Karen" at a press conference about his "upcoming 50th anniversary tour of his landmark album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy," is false. This is the 50th anniversary of the album, he is not touring. In fact, Elton John has officially retired from touring.
We asked an AI tool to tell us if this story was made by AI. Claude.ai reviewed the full text and delivered an analysis titled: "Red Flags Indicating Fabrication"
These red flags include that the story offered no verifiable sources, just anonymous quotes from unidentified "industry insiders," "tour promoters," and "critics." No legitimate entertainment news outlets like Billboard, Rolling Stone, or major news networks covered John's comments, which would be unusual. Direct quotes attributed to the singer are generic, overly dramatic, which Claude said was a "style typical of AI-generated content rather than his actual speaking patterns."
The story follows "the classic pattern of AI-generated clickbait - emotional hook, manufactured controversy, fake social media reactions, and unnamed expert commentary," the AI analysis said.
Lead Stories has found and debunked (archived here) many "AI slop" articles published on websites run in Southeast Asia, mostly in Vietnam. The website acknowledges in its "terms of service" page (archived here) that it is published from Vietnam. We have identifed at least a dozen websites based in Vietnam that have published fake articles generated by AI about "Phillies Karen" being banned from a venue or event.
Source: screenshots of various articles by Lead Stories)
Each article claims that a celebrity or coach was so offended by video of "Phillied Karen" that they decided to ban the anonymous woman from attending the venue of events they control. These articles were all promoted by Facebook pages that targeted fans of singers Elton John and Stevie Nicks, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, American college football teams, NFL teams, and Major League Baseball teams.
(Source: screenshots of Facebook by Lead Stories)
Each of these Facebook pages also have in common that they are administered from Vietnam, based on Meta transparency data.
(Source: screenshots of Facebook by Lead Stories)
Facebook users can easily identify these type of accounts by accessing the transparency data.
(Source: screenshots of Facebook by Lead Stories)
This is what a Facebook page promoting the fake Elton John story looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: screenshot of Facebook by Lead Stories)
