Claim: A viral information on social media and other blogs claims that Elon Musk said: “Nigerian ladies are the best” and vows to marry one.
The claim that Elon Musk said: “Nigerian ladies are the best” and vowed to marry one is false. The referenced media linked to the claim has confirmed it to be false and more evidence showed the information was conjured via an app called “breakyourownnews”.
Full text
Elon Musk is a South Africa-born American entrepreneur who is the co-founder of the electronic-payment firm, PayPal, the chief executive officer of SpaceX, and the electric car manufacturer, Tesla. Elon’s popularity significantly increased earlier this year when he was announced as the world’s richest man.
Since this announcement, multiple narratives combining truth, propaganda, and sensationalism have erupted around and about Elon. One of such recent narratives is the viral claim-making rounds on the internet and social media that Elon Musk said, amongst many other things, that “Nigerian ladies are the best.” The information was shared multiple times on WhatsApp as a CNN Breaking News frame embedded with Elon Musk’s photo.
The claim, embedded in CNN BREAKING NEWS FRAME
However, Dubawa traced the image to a blog post where it was first shared with a detailed report about it. The blog post, headlined as “Elon Musk vows to marry a Nigerian girl as he starts hunting for one” suggested that “Billionaire tech entrepreneur and owner of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, has said he is seriously looking into marrying a lady from Nigeria. Elon revealed this during a live television interview with CNN.” The report provided further details about what appears to be Elon’s long attraction to Nigerian ladies.
Danfonation blog post: Elon Musk vows to marry a Nigerian lady as he starts hunting
The same narrative also reappeared on another Nigerian-based blog where it was stated that “Elon Musk vows to marry a Nigerian girl as he starts hunting for one”
Gradnlineupdates Blogpost: Elon Musk vows to marry a Nigerian girl as he starts hunting
The same information was shared on the ‘Kwaku Blogger’ page where it attracted multiple users’ reactions on Facebook. In the same vein, Jackson Marvelous, another facebook user who shared the same claim on his timeline generated several comments. One user, Isoyah Seth, commented that “COME I HAVE GOOD SISTERS DAT CAN GV U WAT U WANT.” Another commenter, Mayo Orgi, who showed an interest in the news, added, “I want to add him to d number of husband’s I will have.” However, another user, Okwudiri Isioma Deborah, seems to question the post, “Let me start from asking you, where you heard this?” In a reference to a CNN interview, the claim seems to be the most believable amongst most commenters.
Comments from some facebook users about the claim
Kwaku blog on Facebook: Elon Musk vows to marry a Nigerian girl as he starts hunting
Rising skepticism around the claim poses questions around the veracity of the claim: Did Elon musk actually make such a statement and did CNN actually interview him about it?
Verification
DUBAWA first reached out to CNN via mail over the veracity of the claim. In response, CNN confirmed that the information was false and there was no such interview. The brief response clarified that “No, this information is false. No such interview.”
Furthermore, when DUBAWA carried out an analysis on the photo frame linked to CNN, results uncovered traced it to an Android application called “breakyourownnews,” where such frames can be conjured to suit any narrative of choice.
The breakyourownnews app
Also notable, was the fact that none of the blogs mentioned when the interview took place or even provided a link to it. Also, the information was neither reported on major news outlets including CNN.
Conclusion
The information in circulation, that Elon Musks has said “Nigerian ladies are the best” and intends to marry one is false.
