Ad seeking paid protesters is a prank

Several social media posts pointed to a Craigslist ad as proof that paid protesters were part of demonstrations happening in Los Angeles.

“CALIFORNIA RIOT IS A FUNDED OPERATION,” read an X post.

The ad included in that post first appeared in the Craigslist’s Los Angeles section for general labor jobs. The copy in part read, “We are forming a select team of THE TOUGHEST dudes in the area. This unit will be activated only when the situation demands it — BUT YOU GET PAID EVERY WEEK NO MATTER WHAT. high-pressure, high-risk, no room for hesitation.”

The ad offered compensation of $6,500 to $12,500 depending on experience.

But this ad isn’t real and was placed as a joke, according to The Associated Press. It had nothing to do with the demonstrations in California. The ad was created for a prank show called GoofCon1, which streams on YouTube and has more than 800 subscribers.

“I literally had no idea it was ever going to be connected to the riots. It was a really weird coincidence,” Joey LaFleur, who hosts the podcast, told the AP.

The ad was posted as a prank and a livestreamed episode of the podcast focused on speaking with people who responded to it. The ad was posted the day before the protests began.

LaFleur, responding to the false narrative about the prank, posted about the ad on his Instagram account, stating, “Accidentally goofed the entire nation on the latest @goofcon1.”

In a different post he said, “I don’t really know what to do with any of this. I guess get on Newsmax, or something. If I get on Newsmax, that could be funny.”

Musk post not from Trump

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency, recently had a very public falling out.

The back and forth included a variety of posts about each other. One post that was shared on social media appeared to show Trump taking aim at Musk on the president’s Truth Social platform.

“Elon Musk or ‘Mediocre Musk’ is constantly high on ketamine. Always making promises he can't keep. NOT TO BE TRUSTED! He wants to go to Mars, how about you go back to Africa,” the post read.

But this post is fake, according to Reuters.

A screenshot of this post appeared on other platforms but it doesn’t appear anywhere on Truth Social. The post was created to mimic a Truth Social post from the president. It included Trump’s logo and the name @realDonaldTrump and was dated Jun 05, 2025.

But there is no evidence that this is a screenshot of an actual post from Trump.

Lady Gaga scene from a movie

A video posted online appears to show singer/actress Lady Gaga kissing a heckler who confronted her.

In the clip, Lady Gaga is walking up steps when a woman yells, “You are going to hell.” The singer stops, grabs the heckler’s cheeks and kisses her.

Some social media users took offense to the heckler, with one Facebook user writing, “I love this! … You know … seriously … before you throw stones, maybe you should look at your own judgmental heart.”

But this was not an actual heckler confronting the singer, according to Reuters. It’s a scene from a movie.

The movie “Joker: Folie a Deux” stars Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. In other versions of the clip, camera crews can be seen. The scene was not in the final cut of the film.

Actress Jennifer Lamb-Hewitt was in the scene and was kissed by Lady Gaga.

“In the spring of 2023 I was cast in an acting role that required me to receive a kiss from the amazing Lady Gaga,” Lamb-Hewitt told Reuters. “The scene was great fun to film, and a wonderful experience. As a proud parent of pansexual young adults, this opportunity was an honor.”

Ice cream container is fake

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, have previously spoken against the Israel-Hamas war, and Cohen was arrested for protests during a Senate hearing in May.

But according to some social media posts, the pair has displayed their feelings on their products.

“Shame on Ben & Jerry’s,” wrote an X user that showed an ice cream container displaying two cartoonish men wearing kaffiyeh headdresses along with the words “Free Palestine” and “From the River to Sea.”

But this is not part of Ben & Jerry’s offerings, according to PolitiFact. It’s not a flavor listed on the company's website. While Ben & Jerry’s products include flavors such as “Churn Out the Vote!” and “Chubby Hubby,” the “Free Palestine” container was created by using AI.

One Instagram user who posted the photo of the fake container included the explanation, “I JUST HAD CHATGPT MAKE THIS BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT’D LOOK SWEET.”

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.