A rumor circulated online in September 2025 claiming that musician Ringo Starr made comments defending slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk after ABC's suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel's show, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" The suspension came in response to Kimmel's monologues criticizing political reactions to Kirk's death.
On Sept. 22, The Walt Disney Co., the parent company of ABC, which aired "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," announced that the comedian's show would be returning to the network the following day (archived).
Two days earlier, the Facebook page Latest News posted (archived) the story about Starr's comments, receiving more than 28,000 reactions as of this writing. The post displayed an image of Starr, apparently AI-generated — he appeared to have just four fingers on his left hand — as well as photos of Kirk and Kimmel.
The post read:
BREAKING— Ringo Starr steps into the storm. His words cut like glass, his tone unflinching. The world listens.
ABC has pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely. The reason? Words—reckless, sharp, and cruel—aimed at Charlie Kirk. Words that should never have crossed the line.Ringo's voice trembles, but not with fear. With fire. "This is more than television. This is about respect. About dignity. About the weight of a name that millions carry in their hearts."
The silence that follows is deafening. A silence charged with grief, outrage, and unity. He doesn't plead. He demands. He calls the industry to account. He reminds them that Charlie's memory is not a punchline. Not a target. Not disposable.
Every sentence lands like a drumbeat. Heavy. Final. Unforgettable. In that moment, Ringo is not just a Beatle. He is a witness. A guardian. A voice for the voiceless. And across the world, one truth rises above the noise: Charlie Kirk will not be mocked. He will be remembered.
Details in the comments 👇👇👇
Other Facebook, Threads and Instagram users shared the same claim. Some of those posts featured links in top comments leading to advertisement-filled
However, searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo found no news media outlets reporting about Starr speaking in defense of Kirk. Prominent entertainment news outlets would have widely reported this rumor, if true.
Rather, whoever authored the story fabricated the entire tale as one of hundreds of inspirational tales featuring celebrities. They aimed to earn advertising revenue on websites linked from the aforementioned Facebook posts. As we'll lay out later in this article, the story about Starr making comments defending Kirk in September 2025 amounted to fiction.
An examination of the Latest News page's stories found multiple indications of artificial intelligence-generated images and text. For example, regarding the image included in the post in question, the Sightengine AI-detection website found a 99% probability that someone "likely" generated the image with AI. Signs of AI featured in the photo included the fact that Starr had four fingers instead of five.
(sightengine.com)
These stories all very much resembled 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."
The fabricated story on the advertisement-filled websites started as follows:
The air was tense. Headlines swirled, commentaries flared, and the entertainment world was jolted by a decision few saw coming: ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely. The reason was not low ratings or a scheduling shift, but something far more serious — words. Words reckless, cruel, and unforgivable, spoken in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. What might have been dismissed as late-night provocation instead ignited outrage, leaving a cultural wound still raw with grief.
For a time, many wondered who would speak, who would rise above the noise of cynicism to demand something higher. The answer came, not from politicians or pundits, but from a man whose life has long embodied peace and endurance: Ringo Starr.
From his Los Angeles home, the former Beatle's words came not as a whisper but as a strike. 💬 "This isn't about ratings. This is about dignity. About respect. About the weight of a name carried in grief by millions."
The statement landed with the gravity of decades. This was not carefully scripted public relations. It was not the polished cadence of a celebrity comment. It was raw, trembling, human — and it cut through the noise like the crack of a snare drum. For decades, Ringo has been the Beatle of peace, the smiling drummer who signed off with "peace and love" as both mantra and mission. But this time, the fire burned differently.
He did not soothe. He ignited.
The silence after his words was heavier than any cymbal crash. It was the silence of reflection, of people suddenly aware that a line had been crossed. Social media, once brimming with derision and cruelty, shifted tone. The laughter faltered. The weight of Ringo's legacy, his gentle authority, carried more power than endless commentaries could.
There was no record of Starr making such statements. The language, tone and structure of the article also showed signs of AI generation, such as exaggerated, emotional language and vague sourcing.
We have fact-checked several similar rumors in the past. For instance, we investigated whether seven-time Olympic gold-medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles commented on Kirk's past remarks about her after his fatal shooting. We've also debunked a false story about Starr's Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney stopping a concert in London to honor Kirk with a "Let It Be" tribute.
For further reading, in another article we unpacked Kimmel's remarks mentioning Kirk's name.
Upon lifting Kimmel's suspension, The Walt Disney Co. said: "Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on [Jimmy Kimmel Live!] to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive."
"We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday."