Fact Check: Jack Black Vowed to Leave the US Permanently?

Claim:

Comedian Jack Black vowed to leave the U.S. permanently, saying: “I just can’t take it anymore.”

Rating:

Labeled Satire ( About this rating? )

On July 19, 2024, the Facebook page SpaceX Fanclub posted a meme claiming comedian and musician Jack Black had vowed to leave the U.S. permanently.

The post's caption read:

Jack Black Vows To Leave The US Permanently, "I Just Can't Take It Anymore" - SATIRE

(Facebook page SpaceX Fanclub)

As of this writing, the post had received around 26,000 reactions and 17,900 comments, many of which seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events.

One Facebook user commented: "Take a few other with you Jack," while another wrote: "America is a free country. If you want to leave good luck and be happy."

However, as of this writing there was no credible evidence Black had ever claimed he was leaving the U.S. permanently, or that he had ever made any public statement that included the phrase , "I just can't take it anymore."

Rather, the rumor about Black vowing to leave the U.S. permanently originated from SpaceX Fanclub — a Facebook page that described its output as being satirical in nature. The disclaimer "SATIRE" also appeared at the end of the post in question and on a badge in the top left corner of the meme. Additionally, the page's Info section stated:

We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real.

In a comment on the post, the SpaceX Fanclub account shared a link to an article on Esspots.com, a website associated with the Facebook page. That website included multiple disclaimers noting that the content it publishes is satirical, including a dedicated page titled "Disclaimer," which read in part:

Welcome to Esspots.com, a website that specializes in satire, parody, and humor. Before you proceed to read our content, we would like to emphasize that nothing on this website is real. All of the articles, stories, and commentary found on Esspots.com are entirely fictitious and created for the purpose of entertainment only.

We understand that satire can sometimes be mistaken for actual news or events, but we want to make it clear that we do not publish factual or accurate information. We do not intend to deceive or mislead our readers in any way, and all of our content should be taken with a grain of salt.

The rumor surfaced just days after a real-life controversy involving the actor's band, Tenacious D, which Snopes covered . During a concert in Australia, Black's bandmate, Kyle Gass, told the crowd, "Don't miss Trump next time," in response to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, 2024.

SpaceX Fanclub and the associated Esspots.com website have a history of making up stories for shares and comments, sometimes relying on artificial-intelligence (AI) writing software for their storytelling. We ran the text of the Esspots.com article through the AI detectors ZeroGPT , QuillBot , and CopyLeaks , all of which indicated that all or most of the article's text was AI-generated.

Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims about Jack Black in the past, including the assertion that the actor begged to be on stage with Kid Rock at the 2024 Republican National Convention but was thrown out for being "woke."

For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.

Sources:

"Disclaimer." Esspots, https://esspots.com/disclaimer/ . Accessed 6 Aug. 2024.

Guy, Jack. "Jack Black's Band Cancels Tour after Backlash to Bandmate's Comment on Trump Assassination Attempt." CNN, 16 July 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/16/entertainment/tenacious-d-trump-assassination-attempt-backlash-scli-intl/index.html .

Jack Black Cancels Tenacious D Tour after Kyle Gass's Comments about Donald Trump. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0dmx4p4m0lo . Accessed 6 Aug. 2024.

Lee, Jessica. "Why Snopes Covers Satire and Parody." Snopes, 26 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//notes/snopes-satire-parody/ .

Rascouët-Paz, Anna. "Jack Black Thrown out of RNC After Begging To Be on Stage with Kid Rock?" Snopes, 29 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/jack-black-thrown-out-of-rnc-kid-rock/ .

---. "Jack Black's Bandmate Wished for Someone Not to 'Miss Trump Next Time'?" Snopes, 15 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/jack-black-bandmate-dont-miss-trump/ .

Robin, Alex. "Breaking: Jack Black Vows To Leave The US Permanently, 'I Just Can't Take It Anymore.'" Esspots, 19 July 2024, https://esspots.com/breaking-jack-black-vows-to-leave-the-us-permanently-i-just-cant-take-it-anymore/.