Facts Matter: Colbert not shifting from late-night host to dog rescuer
Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert occasionally airs a segment on his show named “Rescue Dog Rescue,” in which he and a celebrity guest feature various dogs up for adoption, in an effort to find the pups a new home.
With Colbert’s show set to be canceled next year, some social media users are reporting that the comedian plans to take dog care to the next level.
“Stephen Colbert is launching ‘The Evergreen Sanctuary’ — a sprawling six-acre, multi-million-dollar haven in the Malibu Hills devoted to abused and abandoned dogs,” began the Dec. 28 Facebook post which included photos of Colbert and some dogs.
“‘This isn’t just a shelter,’ the late-night legend declares. ‘We offer rehabilitation, ocean breezes, open gardens to run wild, and round-the-clock veterinary care — but above all, love,’” the post reads.
Many of the comments thanked Colbert for being such a beautiful and caring person.
But this is all false, according to Snopes. This story was created using artificial intelligence.
There are no other references to Colbert creating a dog “haven” or any mentions of an Evergreen Sanctuary in the Malibu area, or anywhere else.
This post is an example of “glurge,” which Dictionary.com defines as “stories, often sent by email, that are supposed to be true and uplifting, but which are often fabricated and sentimental,” Snopes said. The stories in this category usually are written in the same style with different details matching the featured celebrity.
Plaques contain fake news
President Donald Trump recently redecorated a walkway at the White House with plaques about former presidents. However, much of the text was false or misleading, according to PolitiFact.
On the plaque for President Joe Biden, there is no photo of Biden, only an image of an autopen. Trump has falsely claimed any pardons Biden granted were not legal. But using an autopen is not prohibited by the Constitution.
The Biden plaque says he won “as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States.” This is false and the courts ruled that dozens of lawsuits claiming to challenge the election results lacked merit.
The plaque says Biden’s term included the “highest Inflation ever recorded.” But the worst inflation in U.S. history happened well before Biden became president.
The plaque about President Barack Obama says the Affordable Care Act was “highly ineffective.” But during that time, the percentage of Americans who were not insured dropped from 14.8% in 2012 to 8.6% in 2016.
The Obama plaque also says he was “one of the most divisive political figures in American History.” But in 2025, the former president has a retrospective favorability rating at 59%, the highest of any of the past five presidents.
Arrest not for denying pandemic
A recent social media post said a British man was sent to prison for calling the COVID pandemic fake.
“COVID DENIER WHO CALLED PANDEMIC ‘FAKE’ AND CLAIMED VACCINE WAS ‘POISON’ JAILED FOR YEARS,” claims a Dec. 20 Facebook post which included a photo of an older man with a long beard.
One commenter on the post said, “All he done was speak the truth and said what a lot of us would agree.”
But this claim is false, according to Reuters. The man was convicted, but it wasn’t for speaking out against COVID. He was found guilty of encouraging terrorism and possession of a weapon, according to a statement from London’s Metropolitan Police.
The statement said Counter Terrorism Policing London found that Paul Martin, 60, “a British national, posted 16,000 messages on a Telegram group entitled ‘The Resistance UK’ in which he called for the use of crossbows and explosives.”
When arrested at his home, police seized “a stun gun disguised as a torch, two crossbows with bolts, a large knife, air guns and drones.”
Christmas music not against the law
An older story, making the rounds before Christmas, was headlined “Playing Christmas Music Before Thanksgiving Now A Federal Crime.”
The article said the bill received unanimous votes in both houses of Congress and President Donald Trump signed it into law in November 2017.
But this is fake, according to Snopes. It was created as satire. It originated on a website which bills itself as “Your Trusted Source For Christian News Satire.”
The fake story included a comment from a congressional representative, “At long last, we can all unite around our hatred for being forced to listen to sappy Christmas standards months before December 25.”
• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.