Fact Check: Tim Allen Said, 'Your Kid Can't Pretend To Be an Indian, But a Grown Man Can Pretend To Be a Woman'?

Claim:

Actor Tim Allen said, "We live in a world where your kid can't pretend to be an Indian, but a grown man can pretend to be a woman."

Rating:

Labeled Satire ( About this rating? )

A rumor that actor Tim Allen made remarks comparing kids pretending to be Native Americans to transgender women circulated online in August 2024.

The Facebook page The Patriots Lovers posted ( archived ) a quote meme on Aug. 21 displaying a photo of Allen with the quote, "We live in a world where your kid can't pretend to be an Indian, but a grown man can pretend to be a woman." The page added the caption, "The world is upside down with these crazy rules."

As of this writing, the post had more than 12,000 reactions and 43,000 shares.

One person who shared the post wrote ( archived ), " Sick f***ing s*** has slithered in and we can't do anything about it. How do you like teachers telling children what gender they can be."

A different user sharing ( archived ) the quote meme said, "Tim Allen is right."

Another person also shared the quote with a vulgar thought of their own, writing ( archived ), "Lol so true and so f***ed up."

These users and many others seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of Allen saying the quote. However, there was no evidence of Allen ever making this remark.

Rather, the Facebook page The Patriots Lovers is associated with SpaceXMania.com — a website describing its output as being satirical in nature, including on its "About Us" page and as a label above articles. The quote meme itself also displayed both a "satire" label and a second label also reading, "This is a 'SATIRE QUOTE,'" not to mention the Facebook page's bio which also said, "We specialize in SATIRE."

The Patriots Lovers Facebook page and the SpaceXMania.com website have a history of making up stories for shares and comments, possibly relying on artificial-intelligence writing software to do its storytelling.

The fake Allen quote spread in the weeks following a purported controversy at the 2024 Paris Olympics, in which some misinformed users and articles incorrectly labeled Algerian women's boxer Imane Khelif as trans and male. However, Khelif was born female and has always identified as a woman.

Nick Adams, a conservative commentator and supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, previously shared ( archived ) the quote from the Allen meme image on what was then known as Twitter in April 2022.

Snopes has addressed other claims about Allen in the past, including in August 2019 when Facebook users incorrectly attributed to the actor a lengthy post attacking liberals and Democratic politicians. In our research, we found that a previous share of the post from a completely different person also named Tim Allen may have fooled some people into believing the actor himself shared the thoughts.

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

Sources:

Kasprak, Alex. "Olympic Boxer Imane Khelif Is Neither Trans Nor Male." Snopes , 6 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//news/2024/08/05/imane-khelif-not-trans/ .

Wazer, Caroline. "Boxer Imane Khelif's Father Shares Document That Says Algerian Olympian Was Born Female." Snopes , 6 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//news/2024/08/06/khelif-father-birth-document/ .