FACT CHECK: Did CNN Refer to the ‘Chill Guy’ Meme as a Symbol of Right-Wing Hate?

A post on X claims that CNN published an article claiming that ‘Chill Guy’ is the “new figurehead of racist right-wingers.” The headline states that “These Are The New Symbols of Hate.”

This image is fabricated, however. It takes a screenshot of an article with the same headline but published in 2019 and simply adds the ‘Chill Guy’ information in and changes the date. Furthermore, the altered image clearly says “Satire” on it. The original article, written by the same journalist falsely credited in the altered image, was referring to gestures such as the ‘OK sign’ supposedly being symbols of racist hate.

screenshot of original article

The viral X post did not give any proof that the article was real, and a search of CNN’s website turns up no results. The post did not give any examples of ‘Chill Guy’ memes that were supposedly hateful, either.

This story was first reported by Lead Stories.