BREAKING NEWS: Jason Aldean Sues Whoopi Goldberg For A Cool $100 Billion

CLAIM: Country music star Jason Aldean has sued Whoopi Goldberg and ABC’s “The View” for defamation in relation to his song, “Try That In A Small Town.”

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The claim originated on a website that publishes made-up, satirical content.

THE FACTS: Since Aldean’s music video for the song prompted criticism and was pulled from Country Music Television, false stories about the artist and the country music world have proliferated online.

In the latest example, social media users are falsely claiming that Aldean has filed a defamation suit against Goldberg and the show that she co-hosts, “The View.”

“Jason Aldean SUES Whoopi Goldberg For Defaming ‘Small Town’ Song, The View Enters PANIC MODE,” reads the title of a YouTube video that garnered more than 1.5 million views.

The video cites as evidence a story with a similar headline, reading: “Jason Aldean Files Defamation Suit Against Whoopi and The View: ‘I’m No Racist.’” The story claims the lawsuit is seeking $40 million.

But that story was first published by the satirical website the Dunning-Kruger Times, which is part of America’s Last Line of Defense, a network of websites that creates fictional stories as “parody,” as its “About Us” page states. The website’s domain refers to the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias concept in which people with little knowledge in a given area overestimate what they know.

Other elements of the post also indicate it is not real. It says the supposed suit was filed in the “65th District Court of Writs and Motions,” which doesn’t exist, and claims Aldean’s attorney is named “Joe Barron” — a moniker frequently used by the satirical site. The publication has also fabricated stories about lawsuits against “The View” before.

Similar, fictional stories from the same publisher relating to the Aldean video have also been mistakenly shared as factual in recent days. Such posts include a claim that singer Luke Bryan pulled his videos from CMT (which didn’t happen) and an assertion that Hank Williams Jr. resigned from the network’s board of directors (no such board exists).

“The View” did discuss Aldean’s video on July 20 and the criticism surrounding it, which at one point included co-host Sunny Hostin reading a statement from Aldean rejecting claims that the song or video could be interpreted as racist.

A representative for Aldean did not immediately return a request for comment.