In late May and early June 2025, a rumor spread online that actor Morgan Freeman lectured White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on live television. Some social media users claimed that he upbraided her on the topic of racism and inequality.
For example, one Facebook user who posted about the alleged interaction (archived) said the Hollywood star's comments left Leavitt at a loss for words:
Karoline Leavitt was mercilessly lectured by Morgan Freeman on the topic of R@CIST and INEQU@LITY on live TV! When she tried to defend her point of view, Morgan Freeman responded with words so sharp and profound that it made her speechless.
As of this writing, the post had amassed more than 148,000 reactions and 28,700 comments. The claim spread verbatim on Facebook, though the posts used different photographs of the pair. Further, Snopes readers emailed us and searched the site seeking to ascertain the veracity of the rumor.
However, there was no evidence that it was true. Neither a Google search nor a Google News search showed any indication that the confrontation had happened and no video from any reputable news broadcast could be found showing Freeman's supposed admonition.
Likewise, searches for footage of the exchange on X and Facebook produced no results.
Rather, the rumor about the clash between the pair appeared to originate from articles on disreputable websites with all the hallmarks of junk content farms. For example, one read:
In a powerful and intense moment on live television, Karoline Leavitt found herself being sharply challenged by none other than Morgan Freeman on the pressing issues of racism and inequality. When Leavitt attempted to defend her stance, Freeman responded with words so profound and incisive that she was left utterly speechless.
Artificial intelligence (AI) detectors Quillbot and Grammarly both concluded that the content was AI-generated after text from the articles was run through their detection tools.
If the confrontation had occurred, reputable news and entertainment media outlets would have documented the event; however, that had not happened.
In sum, the rumor appeared to start with AI-generated "slop" — cheap, low-quality content that includes long passages of text, images and poorly made videos.
Snopes has repeatedly debunked similar AI slop rumors, including the claim that musicians Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen performed together after U.S. President Donald Trump attacked them on Truth Social and the fabricated story that former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning gifted a minivan to a mom who walked her son to football practice every day for two years.