Politics
Woke Singer P!NK Gets Hit With Hilarious Fact Check Over ‘Banned Books’ Claim
On Tuesday, woke singer and songwriter ‘P!nk’ got brutally fact checked after dipping her toe into the world of politics when she posted an outrageous claim about books that have been “banned”.
In a post to X which was subsequently appended with a ‘Community note’ from the social network, the singer levied criticism at Florida lawmakers for a July 2022 law that permits parents to petition local school districts to ban literature they find inappropriate.
She wrote, “The following are some titles of books that have been banned from schools in Florida…. Lmk which book is p*rnography…. To Kill A Mockingbird, The Hate You Give, Forrest Gump, A Catcher In The Rye, The Hill We Climb, Girls Who Code, Atlas Shrugged, 1984, The Kite Runner, The Bluest Eye, A Wrinkle In Time, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Fault In Our Stars, etc etc.”
https://twitter.com/Pink/status/1724224528740463099?s=20
Anticipating the ‘community note’ correction, conservative commentator Tracy Beanz quipped in the replies, “This entire post is bull, and I look forward to the community note.” Similarly, Creator of
@libsoftiktok Chaya Raichik suggested Hart was confusing Florida for California where the book was banned for “racism” according to Newsweek.
You’re confusing Florida with California pic.twitter.com/UoqVAHGGod
— Chaya Raichik (@ChayaRaichik10) November 14, 2023
The anticipated community note observed that “This list has been proven incorrect. These books are not banned in Florida. In fact, some are on Florida’s required reading list. Fact check: Fake list of banned Florida books circulates widely online.”
USA Today, cited in the note reported in August 2022 that the list Hart presented was long debunked writing,
“many prominent people on social media have been claiming that a slew of books were immediately banned in schools and libraries statewide by the law. They have circulated an image of 25 book titles listed on a piece of paper.
The book list includes novels that have been taught in schools for generations, including “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Catcher in the Rye” and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” It also includes the Harry Potter series and the biblical Song of Solomon.”
The outlet noted that the false list was shared by prominent left-leaning accounts such as American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Star Wars actor Mark Hamill. However, as USA Today states unequivocally, “the list is a fiction.” Weingarten of the AFT reportedly corrected and deleted her tweet within a matter of hours, others such as Hamill did not. The Star Wars star’s post is still up over a year later.
This also works nicely as a Recommended Reading List. pic.twitter.com/2hYr8Jdjuy
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) August 22, 2022
It remains to be seen if Hart or P!nk rather, will walk back the demonstrably false post. This seems unlikely given that one day prior she and PEN America announced they would be giving away many of these books at her shows in Florida.
She told People, “Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child, and that’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,”
“It’s especially hateful to see authorities take aim at books about race and racism and against LGBTQ authors and those of color. We have made so many strides toward equality in this country and no one should want to see this progress reversed. This is why I am supporting PEN America in its work and why I agree with them: no more banned books.”
Characterizing parents’ ability to curate the content their children are exposed to in order to prevent them from viewing sexually explicit material hardly seems “hateful,” nor does race, racism or LGBTQ authors appear to have any bearing in the Florida law HB 1467.
As previously reported by Trending Politics, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis defended the measure in August 2022 saying, “look, guys, this is not rocket science, okay? You do not have pornographic materials in elementary school or middle school or any —”
He added, “But clearly, parents have the right to know what is being put in their kids’ classroom and in the libraries. And to have adult-themed books — and I’ve seen some of this stuff. You know, a lot of the media, they don’t want actually describe what’s in some of this stuff, but this is very graphic. Some of it involves pedophilia, unfortunately, in some of the books that have been identified throughout the country, and so that’s just inappropriate. So I think that you know what’s age-appropriate.”
