Claim:
A video documents that CNN reported Israel targeted Hezbollah with exploding goats.
Rating:
Fake ( About this rating? )
A rumor circulating online in September 2024 claimed a video showed CNN anchor Jake Tapper reporting that Israel targeted Hezbollah — a Shiite Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon — with exploding goats.
For example, the X user Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) posted ( archived ), "BREAKING NEWS: Mass Hezbollah Casualties Reported After Goats Rectums Explode." The clip showed Tapper speaking above the headline, "Israel Targets Hezbollah with Exploding Goats."
We also noted several users on X who appeared to believe the claim about Israel deploying exploding goats was genuine.
However, the video clip was fake. CNN never ran any such report. Stand-up comedian , actor and writer Danny Polishchuk created the video as a gag. He also played the role of the field reporter opposite Tapper. Polishchuk engineered Tapper's mouth movements and vocal sounds with deepfake video technology and artificial-intelligence tools.
Polishchuk later posted ( archived ) on X, "Warner Media just had this video removed from YouTube and gave me a copyright strike. I think it's fair use." In a direct message to Snopes, he said, "The copyright strike was from Warner however I didn't use any content of theirs and I marked it as synthetic/altered content on YouTube. Twitter also currently has a similar label on it." That label on X read, "Stay informed, Manipulated media," and linked to a page with more information about the platform's policies.
In the video, Polishchuk prompted Tapper's AI voice to say:
Another shocking story coming out of Lebanon that's breaking right now. Two days ago, pagers belonging to members of Hezbollah were simultaneously detonated. And yesterday, walkie-talkies all over the country began exploding in another wave of what appears to be Israeli retaliations. But just moments ago, in a truly surreal twist, the rectums of goats all over the country exploded at the same time, killing an additional 1,800 people and injuring thousands of others as well as killing countless goats.
The fake CNN video played on a fresh wave of violence in the Middle East that began on Sept. 17, 2024, when numerous pagers used by Hezbollah exploded simultaneously across Lebanon. The following day, walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded. The Associated Press reported at least 37 people died and 2,900 others were wounded in the attacks, which were widely attributed to Israel . Further attacks followed on Sept. 20, including Hezbollah launching dozens of rockets into northern Israel, and Israel claiming it killed the commander of Hezbollah's most elite unit with a strike in Beirut that left at least 14 dead.
The spread of the "exploding goats" rumor online went beyond instances of the fake CNN video, however. The claim also spread without the video's help. For example, on former U.S. President Donald Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, a user posted, " Just heard that now the goats in Lebanon are exploding."
A different user posted ( archived ) on X, "BREAKING NEWS: Mass Hezbollah Casualties Reported After Goats Exploding! Watch out for the GOATS!"
Other users simply made joking references to the general concept of deploying goats secretly packed with explosives. "I'm holding out for exploding goat butts!," one user said .
Lastly, Polishchuk created another Tapper deepfake video ( archived ) poking fun at both CNN and any users who may have taken the original clip seriously.
The follow-up video featured an AI-generated Tapper voice saying, in part:
While humorous, here at CNN, we are very concerned with the proliferation of any fake news that we didn't create ourselves. Disinformation is a very serious threat to our country and the world when it isn't us here at CNN creating it. We acknowledge the average person on the internet is too stupid to tell the difference between parody and reality. And if it was up to us, none of those people would be ever allowed to vote.
Sources:
Frankel, Julia, and Bassem Mroue. "Israeli Airstrike on Beirut Kills a Top Hezbollah Military Official as Lebanon Reports 14 Died." The Associated Press , 20 Sept. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-hezbollah-rocket-attack-mideast-tensions-a6a95169a21b45dc86d86182e255fa7e .
Grantham-Philips, Wyatte, et al. "What to Know about the Two Waves of Deadly Explosions That Hit Lebanon and Syria." The Associated Press , 17 Sept. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-israel-hezbollah-pager-explosion-e9493409a0648b846fdcadffdb02d71e .
Keath, Lee. "What to Know about the Growing Conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah." The Associated Press , 20 Sept. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-war-pagers-920ced5349562163eeb96d6a5a768e89 .
Lai, Johnson, and Bassem Mroue. "Lebanon Is Rocked Again by Exploding Devices as Israel Declares a New Phase of War." The Associated Press , 18 Sept. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-israel-exploding-pagers-hezbollah-syria-ce6af3c2e6de0a0dddfae48634278288 .
Liles, Jordan. "Does Photo Show US-Made Woodward Missile Part Dropped in Gaza?" Snopes , 26 Oct. 2023, https://www.snopes.com//news/2023/10/26/woodward-missile-gaza-rumor/ .
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