No Pearl Jam shows canceled after Eddie Vedder's criticism of Harrison Butker | Fact check
The claim: Arrowhead Stadium canceled Pearl Jam shows after singer's criticism of Harrison Butker
A May 21 post on Facebook (direct link, archive link) shows side-by-side pictures of Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder and Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker.
"Kansas City Cancels Three Pearl Jam Shows at Arrowhead Stadium: 'We Stand With Harrison Butker,'" reads text within the post.
The post garnered more than 200 shares in one day. Similar versions of the claim were shared on Facebook, Instagram and X.
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Our rating: False
The claim originated on a satirical website. Pearl Jam didn't have any shows scheduled in Kansas City prior to Vedder's criticism of Butker.
Claim originated as satire
Butker has faced a wave of criticism since his May 11 commencement speech at Benedictine College in Kansas, during which he attacked Pride Month and transgender people and said women should aspire to be "homemakers," as USA TODAY previously reported. Vedder joined the discourse by publicly criticizing the kicker during a Pearl Jam show in Las Vegas a week later, according to Variety.
"There’s nothing more masculine than a strong man supporting a strong woman," Vedder told the crowd in between songs.
Vedder's criticism of Butker hasn't resulted in any canceled shows, however.
A web archive of the band's tour dates from May 10 shows that no shows were originally scheduled for Kansas City, let alone at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chief's home venue. Nor has Vedder or the band announced any canceled shows on their social media pages.
Fact check: No evidence Andy Reid vowed to leave Chiefs if team boots Butker. That's satire
The claim originated in an article published by the Dunning-Kruger Times, a subsidiary of the self-proclaimed satire site America's Last Line of Defense. The site shared a post with the claim on May 20, linking to the satirical article in the comments. The claim is even referred to as a "trolling operation" for "hateful boomers" toward the end of the article.
The Facebook post is an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where posts or stories written as satire and presented that way originally are reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Snopes also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
Pearl Jam (web archive), May 23, Tour
Dunning-Kruger Times (web archive), May 23, Canceled: Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam No Longer Welcome at Arrowhead: 'We Stand Behind Harrison Butker'
Dunning-Kruger Times, accessed May 23, About Us
America's Last Line of Defense, May 20, Facebook post
America's Last Line of Defense, accessed May 23, Facebook page
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No Pearl Jam shows canceled by Kansas City. That's satire | Fact check
