Guardian columnist didn’t pen piece saying he got COVID for a ‘23rd time’

CLAIM: A screenshot shows a May 11 piece published by The Guardian in which columnist George Monbiot says he caught COVID-19 23 times despite “dozens of boosters.”

AP’S ASSESSMENT: Altered image. A screenshot of a real column has been edited to add a fake headline. That headline does not appear on The Guardian’s website and the British outlet confirmed to The Associated Press that it never published that piece.

THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing the purported screenshot, suggesting it shows a real column.“I’ve caught Covid for the 23rd time despite having had dozens of boosters (I’ve lost count). Thank heavens for the vaccine,” reads the headline in the image, which is made to appear as a screenshot of a column dated May 11 on the Guardian website. The supposed column is attributed to Monbiot.

One Thursday tweet sharing the image, paired with clown emojis, received more than 3,700 likes.

But there is no record of that headline on The Guardian’s website under Monbiot’s author page. As of Thursday, his most recent column was published May 3 and focused on water pollution.

The Guardian further confirmed that the screenshot circulating online is bunk.“We can confirm that the link shared has never been a published Guardian headline or story,” the outlet’s press office told the AP in an email statement.

Monbiot also called out the falsehood on Twitter.

“Another one who fell for this fake headline,” he wrote, showing one example of someone sharing the fabricated image. “Is there anything such people won’t believe?”

___

This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.