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If it sounds too good..
Sep. 7th, 2025 10:41My wife was walking into the kitchen with her phone speaker on and I could hear that AI voice descibing some interview with Stephen Colbert and Denzel Washington. My brain turned it off. The AI voiceover is an immediate brain shut down for me. But enough of it got through that I asked and Dana said 'it is a fascinating interview.. I wish I'd heard it". Enough for me to look it up. Below is the Gemini summary of what she was listening to found by entering the two names Colbert and Washington into a search engine. Gemini did a great summary and thoroughly annotated short analysis of the entire thing found, by me, in about 10 seconds and pasted below. Not a very arduous research project.
Also in the search were about 15 different links to the fake post and maybe one or two to the Burlington expose.
Needless to say I suggested to Dana that anything that makes her angry, sad, heartfelt that makes her immediately dislike someone, immediately love someone, any emotional even from connecting with Facebook and most of the rest of the Internet is likely fake and manipulative.
I left Facebook maybe 15 years ago, Instagram about the same time and Reddit about 3 years ago. Doing that has really helped me become a healthy skeptic but mostly has just made me more human and less filled with cotton candy of the brain and spirit.
There are untold numbers of people this morning who are convinced that Denzel Washington was kicked off the Colbert show and who will never be dissuaded by any subsequent facts.
I had a sixth grade teacher who had a lot of issues. Mom really did not like her for some reason. But she was the first person to say to me 'believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see'. At 12 years old I was a sponge and that really was absorbed into my head. One of the best things I learned in school.
Also in the search were about 15 different links to the fake post and maybe one or two to the Burlington expose.
Needless to say I suggested to Dana that anything that makes her angry, sad, heartfelt that makes her immediately dislike someone, immediately love someone, any emotional even from connecting with Facebook and most of the rest of the Internet is likely fake and manipulative.
I left Facebook maybe 15 years ago, Instagram about the same time and Reddit about 3 years ago. Doing that has really helped me become a healthy skeptic but mostly has just made me more human and less filled with cotton candy of the brain and spirit.
There are untold numbers of people this morning who are convinced that Denzel Washington was kicked off the Colbert show and who will never be dissuaded by any subsequent facts.
I had a sixth grade teacher who had a lot of issues. Mom really did not like her for some reason. But she was the first person to say to me 'believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see'. At 12 years old I was a sponge and that really was absorbed into my head. One of the best things I learned in school.
There was no actual on-air confrontation or walk-off between Denzel Washington and Stephen Colbert in 2025; the posts describing such an event are disinformation circulating on social media platforms like Facebook, intended to generate income and mislead viewers. In reality, Denzel Washington has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert multiple times, most notably in December 2021 when he paid tribute to his late mother. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
The Disinformation Campaign
- Posts circulated on Facebook claiming Denzel Washington was "kicked off" or "forced to leave" Colbert's show after a heated exchange, according to sources like the Burlington Gazette. [1, 2, 3]
- These posts often used dramatic language and the implied idea of a real event to attract views and engagement. [3, 7, 8]T
- The Burlington Gazette explains that these phony interviews are designed to generate income for the creators and Facebook through advertising, a practice of "disinformation at its best". [3]
The Actual Appearance
- Denzel Washington did appear on The Late Show in December 2021 to promote the film The Tragedy of Macbeth. [4, 9]
- During this real interview, Washington spoke with Colbert about the film, his career, and shared heartfelt stories about his late mother. [4, 5, 10]
- There was no on-air drama or controversy; the visit was a standard guest appearance on the show. [3, 4]
AI responses may include mistakes.
[2] https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1287023946112315&id=100044141664236&set=a.299826571498729
Not all images can be exported from Search.