Online posts sharing a headline falsely stating that billionaire Elon Musk acquired the American television network ABC and fired the entire cast of its talk show “The View” originated from social media accounts associated with clickbait websites.

Shared by the websites’ Facebook accounts, which describe themselves as “news” or “entertainment” sources, the posts, opens new tab featuring photos of Musk and actor Whoopi Goldberg, one of the show’s hosts, said: “NEWS: Elon Musk Shocked When He Fired The Entire Cast Of ‘The View’ After Acquiring ABC.”

Reuters Image

However, the same fake news, opens new tab was posted at least as early as February 2024, while “The View” has continued to air with its longtime cast including Goldberg. The show’s latest episode, opens new tab was broadcast on June 3.

No announcement of an ABC acquisition appears on the ABC website, opens new tab on Musk’s X profile, opens new tab.

As of June 4, the social media profiles for “The View” hosts do not feature any announcement about the cast being fired.

There are no credible news reports of Musk acquiring ABC and firing the cast of “The View”.

Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022 and changed the company’s name to X.

The press team at X responded to a request for comment saying, “Busy now, please check back later.”

A representative for ABC did not offer a response to a request for comment.

Reuters has previously addressed false/misleading posts about “The View”cast and