A number of right-wing Twitter users have praised Guy Fieri over a report that he canceled Garth Brooks' booking at one of his restaurants—despite the article being posted on a parody website.
The Dunning-Kruger-Times recently published an article in which it was claimed country star Brooks had made a reservation at one of restaurateur Fieri's eateries, adding in a note that he was "bringing a camera crew and to have plenty of Bud Light ready."
According to the fabricated article, Fieri personally canceled Brooks' reservation after a manager warned him that the musician "was staging some kind of gotcha moment." A quote attributed to the manager stated that Fieri "called [Brooks] directly and told him there are two things he refuses to serve: Bud Light and Him."
Since April, Bud Light has drawn relentless criticism over a small branded partnership it had with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. In a video posted to Instagram on April 1, Mulvaney said that the beer brand had sent her a can with her face on it to commemorate 365 days of her living as a woman.
Mulvaney's partnership with Bud Light drew condemnation from several conservative figures, including Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw. Amid boycott calls, musicians Kid Rock, Travis Tritt and John Rich counted themselves among those who publicly declared their aversion to Bud Light over the collaboration.
Bucking the trend, singer-songwriter Brooks said that he would not be banning the beer from his bar, Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk, when it opens later this summer in Nashville's popular South Broadway District.
"I know this sounds corny, I want it to be the Chick-fil-A of honky-tonks," Brooks told Billboard in June. "I want it to be a place you feel safe in, I want it to be a place where you feel like there are manners and people like one another."
Alluding to the Bud Light backlash, the musician added: "And yes, we're going to serve every brand of beer. We just are. It's not our decision to make. Our thing is this, if you [are let] into this house, love one another. If you're an a**hole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway."
With Brooks' comments having incensed a number of Bud Light detractors, some took to Twitter to commend Fieri on canceling the star's restaurant reservation—even though the incident was fabricated.
Guy Fieri Cancels Garth Brooks' Regular Reservation: "There's No Bud Light Here" https://t.co/bJ9Ufge75k
— KK (@kellytx2) July 12, 2023
"This makes me a bigger fan for Guy Fieri," said one Twitter user, while another commented: "Now cancel Garth too. WELL DONE!"
Another directly tagged Food Network star Fieri, who was recently photographed greeting former President Donald Trump at a UFC event in Las Vegas.
"Great move @GuyFieri! My family loves your show!" they wrote. "Actually my daughter and son-in-law met you in person in New York and they brought me a copy of your book with your signature! Thank you for your support, President Trump 2024!"
Amid the celebrations on the platform, a number of Twitter users pointed out that the article was posted on a parody website.
"NOTE to the #MAGA #BudLight crowd gleefully tweeting articles like this about Garth Brooks... 🤥 They're ALL fake," tweeted one. "Do your research. Articles by Dunning Kruger Times [...] are satire. Sorry folks, #GarthBrooks is & will continue to be fine."
The Dunning-Kruger-Times last month posted a parody article claiming that Brooks' bar would no longer be opening after he lost investors over his Bud Light comments. There is currently no information verifying that Brooks' bar will not open.
The "about us" page on the Dunning-Kruger-Times website states that the outlet is satirical.
"Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real," the page states. "If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site's pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical."
The Dunning-Kruger effect appears to have inspired the name of the website. This is a "cognitive bias," where people "with limited knowledge or competence in a given intellectual or social domain greatly overestimate their own knowledge or competence in that domain relative to objective criteria or to the performance of their peers or of people in general," the Encyclopedia Britannica states.
In internet parlance, the term is often used to refer to the overconfidence of individuals despite their low IQ levels.
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