- A fake screengrab purporting to show Kim Kardashian West’s Instagram story described her buying her daughter North West the bloodstained shirt John F. Kennedy was wearing when he was assassinated.
- Refinery29 reported it as true.
- Kardashian West shut down the story, tweeting “WOW this is obviously fake,” and called it a “sick joke.”
- The news site has now updated its article.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Refinery29 is being criticized for falsely reporting that Kim Kardashian West bought her daughter North West the bloodstained shirt President John F. Kennedy was wearing when he was assassinated.
Kardashian West swiftly shut down the story, and the publication updated its article.
The reality-TV star, 39, had shared some of the presents she’d bought her children for Christmas on her Instagram story, including two items for 6-year-old North West that used to belong to Michael Jackson, E News reported: a jewel-encrusted black velvet jacket and his “Smooth Criminal” hat.
Both bought from Julien’s Auction House, the jacket sold for $65,625 and the hat for $56,250, the site reported.
"North is a really big Michael Jackson fan and we knew she would love this," Kardashian West said on her Instagram story, according to Page Six. "We won this on an auction for Northie for Christmas."
But when someone online responded by creating a fake screengrab made to look as if Kardashian West had also described buying North West "the shirt John F. Kennedy wore when he was assassinated," it fooled some people into thinking it was true - including Refinery29.
The news and lifestyle site has now updated its article, but the original version published Monday can still be seen in a copy syndicated by Yahoo and a tweet sharing a screengrab.
"Perhaps even more surprising, though, was that she also gave North the shirt President John F. Kennedy was wearing when he was shot and killed," the publication wrote.
The author continued: "What is North West going to do with JFK's bloody shirt? And why isn't it in a museum?
"The visual of the shirt posted on her stories is jarring - and raises questions about why anyone would give a child something so violent.
"But regardless of the motivation behind the gifts, one thing is certain: Kardashian West is building one hell of a fashion archive for her daughter."
The journalist Nina Mohan saw what had happened and tweeted her disbelief: "I AM SCREAMING someone tweeted as a joke that Kim Kardashian gifted North JFK's bloody shirt and Refinery29 wrote about it as if it were true????"
I AM SCREAMING someone tweeted as a joke that Kim Kardashian gifted North JFK’s bloody shirt and Refinery29 wrote about it as if it were true???? pic.twitter.com/a1KYNc2Jx3
— Nina Luckshmi Mohan (@NinaLMohan) December 30, 2019
Kardashian West then retweeted Mohan, shutting the story down.
"WOW this is obviously fake!" she said. "@Refinery29 I did not get JFK's shirt. That is a sick joke that someone tweeted as a fake ig story that I never posted."
WOW this is obviously fake! @Refinery29 I did not get JFK’s shirt. That is a sick joke that someone tweeted as a fake ig story that I never posted. https://t.co/fajEtOrlqU
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) December 31, 2019
The updated article now contains a disclaimer: "This story has been updated from the original version. Earlier, it included a falsified Instagram image, which has been removed."
Refinery29 did not immediately respond to a request from Insider for further comment.
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