Stars likeNiall Horan,Pink,UsherandJosh Brolinall posted the same note to their profiles with the following gist: Instagram is implementing a new “rule” in which they are allowed to use your photos in any way they want moving forward, including in “court cases in litigation against you.”
Though the post was full of grammatical mistakes and appeared to be written using varying typography, making its legitimacy questionable, celebrities jumped on the bandwagon, declaring themselves exempt from the rule because they’d re-shared the statement.
The only problem is, the whole thing was a hoax — one that originated and first started circulating way back in 2012.
“There’s no truth to this post,” an Instagram spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE in a statement.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; Anna Webber/Getty
TheParks and Recreationactor’s son, Matthew, is a student at Loyola Law School at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, according to his LinkedIn.
Meanwhile, stars likeJohn Mayer— who has a reputation as something of an Instagram troll — saw the opportunity to pounce, and shared a satirical message of his own that expressly gave Instagram the right to “publish, distribute, and/or sell any or all of my digital content.”
As the “Gravity” singer, 41, explained, that includes a myriad of things, namely his “world famous” meatloaf recipes, Joe Camel fan fiction,Fight Clubfilm flubs, photographs of sinks, drawings of Jenga Jengison, his “imaginary porn star made of wooden blocks,” and his “woke” magic tricks.
“This post I made on my phone shall stand as a legally binding document, in perpetuity throughout the universe,” he concluded.
The Daily ShowhostTrevor Noahalso got in on the fun, posting a statement of his own that mocked the poor grammar featured in the original.
“A new rule from Instagram this is also old rule and no rule is happening tomorrow where Instagram can use your picture and message for make money and also court case,” he wrote. “If you want to stop this you must repost this message which is a real contract and you can tell it is very real because the grammar and speling is perfect.”
AsSnopespoints out, a similar message that shared language about a looming deadline first floated around the internet in 2012.
Other celebrities who fell for the hoax includeJulianne Moore,2 Chainz,Jamie Lynn Sigler,Colton Haynes,Zoe Saldana,Taraji P. Henson, andJudd Apatow, though many have since deleted their posts.
Pink had a sense of humor about it, reposting anews story on Instagramthat featured a photo of her below the headline, “A List of All the Celebrities That Fell for That Really Dumb Instagram Hoax.”
Wrote the singer, “Awww look at that pretty face
.”
source: people.com
