Amy Schumer Hospitalization Rumors Are Spreading Because of an X Meme

Amy Schumer was not hospitalized, but a "satirical" post on X convinced many fans that she was in "critical condition."

By Michael Hein

A rumor about comedian Amy Schumer getting hospitalized spread like wildfire last week, but it turns out that it was actually all a hoax. Viral posts and even some reports that looked authentic stated that Schumer had fallen down the stairs while trying to recreate a TikTok trend, but that's not true. The story reportedly started with a post on X – the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

This hoax seems to have originated with an account called LyricVault, according to a report by Newsweek. On Wednesday, Dec. 27, the account posted a video of a blonde woman doing a dance routine on a staircase at home, but she slips and takes a nasty fall. The woman's face is not clearly visible in the video, but it was shared side-by-side with a picture of Schumer, along with the headline "Amy Schumer hospitalized after attempting TikTok trend. Sources say she's in critical condition." Some fans took the story at face value before realizing that it was a complete fabrication.

LyricVault has a stylized logo for a profile photo and the account owner pays for X Premium, meaning that their display name shows up with the blue checkmark that used to denote a verified identity. In fairness, their profile states that they are a "satirical" account, but the nature of the X feed means that few users will go far enough to see that. The post on its own looks like it is authentic, and not only did users believe it, but they re-posted the story on their own accounts, further spreading misinformation.

Since last week, users have added "Context" to the original LyricVault post which is now clearly displayed underneath the video. It says: "Amy Schumer is not injured and has not been hospitalized. The account that shared this post makes satire headlines and the one in this post is not factual." On X, Context or "community notes" can be added to viral posts on a voluntary basis, but stories are often allowed to spread far beyond the bounds of the original post before they are changed. In this case, a quick search for "Amy Schumer" on X shows dozens of copycat posts with no notation about the satirical headline.

Confusing "satirical" stories like this one have become more common on X since the nature of the blue checkmark was changed under Elon Musk. The check used to indicate that a well-known public figure had verified their account, distinguishing them from parodies or imitators. However, Musk offered to sell the checkmark as a privilege to anyone willing to pay a monthly fee for X Premium, along with a few other features. That made it easy for users to imitate celebrities, news outlets or just about anyone – at least well enough to grab readers' attention. On top of that, Musk's X would later roll out a means of monetizing viral posts, giving users an incentive to spread eye-catching misinformation like this.

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