“Elon Musk bans DreamWorks Animation from X for promoting Pride.”
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No Shrek on X? Claims that Musk banned DreamWorks is satire
If Your Time is short
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This claim originated as satire.
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DreamWorks Animation’s X account remains active.
Were Shrek, Donkey and Princess Fiona kicked off of X?
"Elon Musk bans DreamWorks Animation from X for promoting Pride," read a Nov. 17 Threads post.
An article linked in the post claimed, "Elon Musk has reportedly banned DreamWorks Animation from the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, due to the company’s promotion of Pride and LGBTQ+ initiatives."
The Threads post featured a photo of Musk, the owner of X, alongside an image showing several DreamWorks animated characters with a pride flag in the background. The post garnered almost 1,000 likes and spread as a similar piece of misinformation, that Musk blocked "Disney’s pride content" spread across several platforms.
But this claim is just like the DreamWorks dragon — Toothless. The claim originated as satire.
Featured Fact-check
(Screenshot of Threads post)
The Threads post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
SpaceX Fanclub, a satire account that says "nothing on this page is real," shared the same claim Oct. 21 on its Facebook page. The satire post linked to an article on Esspots, another satire website.
But when the claim was reshared on Threads, it did not include a satire disclaimer. PolitiFact has fact-checked numerous claims that have originated on SpaceX Fanclub and Esspots that have later spread without a satire label.
DreamWorks Animation had an active X account as of Nov. 19 and was most recently promoting its movie, "The Wild Robot." Musk had not tweeted about DreamWorks as of Nov. 19.
We rate the claim that Musk banned DreamWorks animation from X for promoting Pride False.
Our Sources
Threads post (archived) Nov. 17, 2024
X profile (archived), accessed Nov. 19, 2024
Batmalite Media, "Elon Musk Bans DreamWorks Animation From X For Promoting Pride," (archived), Nov. 18, 2024
Facebook post, (archived), Oct. 21, 2024
Esspots, "Elon Musk Bans DreamWorks Animation Permanently from X for Promoting Pride: ‘It’s Extremely Woke’," (archived), Oct. 22, 2024
Facebook profile, accessed Nov. 19, 2024
PolitiFact, "Satirical story about Candace Owens trying to ban Taylor Swift from the NFL spreads without context," June 25, 2024
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PolitiFact, "No, Steelers coach did not call Pride Month ‘woke crap.’ That claim started as satire," June 14, 2024
PolitiFact, "Not the real thing: Coca-Cola didn’t break ties with Taylor Swift after Kamala Harris endorsement," Sept. 18, 2024
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PolitiFact, "Jason Aldean didn’t refuse $500 million collaboration with Taylor Swift because her "music is woke"," Aug. 26, 2024
X search, accessed Nov. 19, 2024
How to Train Your Dragon Wiki, "Toothless," accessed Nov. 19, 2024
PolitiFact, "No, Elon Musk didn’t block Disney’s pride content on X," Nov. 19, 2024
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