Did singers Dolly Parton, Adam Lambert, Elton John, Barry Gibb, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, sports figures Sam Pittman, Cade Klubnik, or Marc Marquez honor Charlie Kirk by calling for a moment of silence or by attending his funeral? No, that's not true: Social posts and articles claiming that these celebrities reacted to the killing of Kirk on September 10, 2025, with calls for a moment of silence at concerts or games, or by performing at Kirk's funeral are generated by AI tools. Websites and Facebook pages promoting these fake stories are targeting an American audience, but published from Vietnam.
The claims originated with a series of articles on fake websites, including this article (archived here) published on azontree.com on September 12, 2025. The article opened:
BREAKING NEWS: Music legend Dolly Parton has moved the nation by calling for a minute of silence before each of her concerts to honor the late Charlie Kirk, founder of the National Unity Foundation, who passed away at a community event.
This is what the article looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: screenshot of azontree.com by Lead Stories)
The article continued:
In a moving gesture that has captured the hearts of millions, music icon Dolly Parton has announced a new tradition before each of her concerts: a minute of silence dedicated to the late Charlie Kirk, founder of the National Unity Foundation. The beloved philanthropist and community leader passed away recently during a local community event, leaving behind a legacy of compassion, service, and togetherness.
These articles followed a familiar pattern that Lead Stories has previously investigated and found to be created by publishers in Southeast Asia, using artificial intelligence tools. 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:
No Verifiable Sources: No specific details about when or where this announcement was made, despite claiming it's "breaking news."
Manufactured Quotes: The quotes attributed to Dolly Parton don't match her typical speaking style and sound overly formal/dramatic.
Generic Emotional Language: Phrases like "captured the hearts of millions" and "cultural beacon of love and unity" are typical of AI-generated emotional content.
No Media Coverage: A major announcement from Dolly Parton would be covered extensively by entertainment media outlets like CMT, Rolling Stone Country, or major news networks.
Vague Details: References to "a community event" and "recently" without specifics are red flags for fabricated content.
Anonymous Social Media Claims: Claims about fan reactions and social media spread without verification.
The AI analysis concluded the Parton story followed the same pattern as many other articles with Southeast Asian origins, mostly from Vietnam, debunked (archived here) by Lead Stories.
These articles exploit real tragedy, using celebrities' name to create emotional engagement without any factual basis. There's no evidence Dolly Parton or any of the others made such an announcement.
Each article and post refer to Kirk as "founder of the National Unity Foundation," which doesn't exist. Kirk is the founder of Turning Point USA (archived here.)
The claims that Elton John, Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill performed at Charlie Kirk's funeral are easily proven false since the date for the service had not been announced at the time of writing.
(Source: Lead Stories screenshots of various articles.)
These articles were all promoted by Facebook pages that targeted fans of the singers Elton John and college football teams.
(Source: Lead Stories screenshots of Facebookposts.)
Each of these Facebook pages also have in common that they are administered from Southeast Asia, mostly from Vietnam, based on Meta transparency data.
(Source: Lead Stories screenshots of Facebook posts.)
Facebook users can easily identify these type of accounts by accessing the transparency data.
(Source: Lead Stories screenshots of Facebook transparency reports.)
This is what a Facebook page (archived here) promoting the fake Dolly Parton story looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: Lead Stories screenshots of Facebook page Southern Timber.)
