No, Michelle Wolf was not arrested for bestiality in Hershey, Pa.
It's a case of Fake News.
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Comedian Michelle Wolf, 32, has drawn plenty of criticism following her incendiary monologue at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, with even the dinner's organizers saying her performance was "not in the spirit" of the evening's mission. Now, however, the fake news is rolling out.
Following her 20-minute, politically charged monologue over the weekend, an image of a newspaper clipping began circulating online that claimed Wolf, a Hershey native, pleaded guilty to bestiality charges in her hometown in 2015. The article in the image goes on to indicate the comedian was sentenced to 12 months of probation and an $1,100 fine after investigators found "hundreds of images" of Wolf "engaging in illegal sexual intercourse with a number of male dogs" on a computer.
None of it, however, is true — just ask the Sun, the Hershey newspaper referenced in the viral image's header. Founded in 1871, the Sun is a weekly newspaper that covers Hummelstown, Hershey, Palmyra, and Elizabethtown.
"It's laughably bad," Sun managing partner David Buffington said of the viral fake news. "The person who faked this thing messed up all sorts of easily verifiable stuff."
An easy one, for example, is the fake clipping's date: Sunday, July 10, 2015. That day was a Friday, and the Sun publishes weekly on Thursday so that should have been a red flag for those familiar with the paper.
Another issue is the typefaces used in the article, which the Sun says it does not use. The article's style, the paper says, also differs significantly from the style the Sun uses in police news reports.
What's more, "Hershey investigator Dan Browlinski" seems not to exist, at least in the 147 years of archives the Suns has of its coverage. A Google search for the purported investigator, meanwhile, mostly turns of references to the viral clipping currently making its rounds online.
Additionally, Pennsylvania court records online do not show any bestiality offenses against Wolf. However, as the Sun points out, a Michelle Wolf did plead guilty to a speeding charge in Lancaster County near Hershey this year, but that person's birthday is different from the comedian's, meaning it likely is a different Wolf.
Fact-checking website Snopes, meanwhile, points out the fake news clipping was likely created using a popular online newspaper clip generator, which allows users to easily mock up their own headlines, complete with a custom date. The source of the image, however, remains unclear.
Wolf has also been the victim of a couple other fake news reports following her Correspondents' Dinner monologue, with both originating from the fake news website Daily World Update, as Snopes points out. One article indicated Comedy Central fired Wolf in the wake of the controversy over her jokes on Saturday, and another claimed Hulu canceled a coming series from Wolf.
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The comedian, for the record, has an upcoming series, The Break, coming out on Netflix May 27. As the New York Times reports, Wolf left her gig at Comedy Central's The Daily Show several months ago to pursue a hosting role at The Break.
In her monologue at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, Wolf targeted President Donald Trump, as well as several Cabinet members.
"Of course, Trump isn't here, if you haven't noticed," Wolf said Saturday. "I would drag him here myself, but it turns out the president of the United States is the one p—- you're not allowed to grab."
Trump has since responded to Wolf's stand-up set on Saturday, tweeting on Sunday that "the filthy 'comedian' totally bombed (couldn't even deliver her lines-much like the Seth Meyers weak performance)."
Wolf, however, doesn't seem bothered by the controversy, judging by an appearance on NPR's Fresh Air that is scheduled to air today.
"I wouldn't change a single word that I said," Wolf said in a clip released ahead of the episode's debut. "I'm very happy with what I said. And I'm glad I stuck to my gun."