Rock 'n' roll isn't immune to fake news. Case in point, there are fake news stories going viral on Facebook claiming that the front office of Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City cancelled three of Pearl Jam's upcoming shows due to comments made by frontman Eddie Vedder in wake of the controversial commencement address given by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker.
The post, shared by the America's Last Line of Defense account, contains the unattributed quote, "We stand with Harrison and his admirable moral values. Vedder and his band can find somewhere else to play."
The post has 147,000 reactions, nearly 18,000 comments and more than 15,000 shares.
It goes on to say, "the move will const the band around $14 million."
There's at least one problem with the post -- Pearl Jam was never booked to play at Arrowhead Stadium. There were no such dates on their itinerary when the tour was announced in February and currently listed on the band's website.
Music Times reached out to Facebook, Pearl Jam, and the Kansas City Chiefs/Arrowhead Stadium for comment.
Although if you look carefully at the URL of the Facebook post, you'll see it contains the word "satire," it's not like America's Last Line of Defense is the Onion or even The Hard Times, two sites that are known for their news parodies.
Vedder weighed in on the controversial remarks made by Butker during his commencement speech at Benedictine College during the band's show May 18 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, pointing out that the band's opening act, Deep Sea Diver, features two women.
"The singer, Jessica [Dobson], and the keyboard player, Patti [King], they must not have believed that 'diabolical lie' that women should take pride in taking a back seat to their man," Vedder said from the stage.
"There should be pride in homemaking if you're a man or a woman ... it's one of the hardest jobs and you should definitely take pride in it, but you're going to benefit by giving up your dreams?" Vedder asked. "I couldn't understand the logic, so I'm questioning it in public right now ... It's not a graduation speech."
Just in case anyone wasn't sure he was referring to Butker, Vedder then took a direct shot at the Chiefs kicker. "The irony was that the football player -- well, kicker ... You see the kicker doesn't have the pads because he doesn't tackle anybody or get tackled -- but he started telling men, 'Don't forget to puff up your chest and be more masculine. Don't lose your masculinity.' The irony was that when he was saying that, he looked like such a f---ing p----."
"There's nothing more masculine than a strong man supporting a strong woman," Vedder added as the crowd shouted and cheered with approval.
