Naomi Wolf, a feminist author and former adviser to President Bill Clinton, was duped into tweeting out an anti-vaccine quote that was attached to a photo of a male porn star.
Wolf grabbed headlines a few weeks ago over her comments bemoaning COVID-19 lockdowns in the United States and fearing a "totalitarian state." The Intercept reporter Ken Klippenstein took to Twitter to share screenshots of a DM he sent to Wolf featuring adult star Dr. Johnny Sins.
Quote From Dr. John Sims, MD
In the photo, Sims is dressed up in scrubs (presumably for an adult film in which he played a doctor) along with a quote that reads, "If a vaccine is effective, then why do we need to pressure people to take it?" The quote was attributed to "Dr. John Sims, MD."
Klippenstein sent Wolf the image claiming he was a fan of her work. Wolf later shared the image with her 108,000 followers on Twitter, at which point Klippenstein took a screenshot and took credit for the prank.
Twitter Reactions
Wolf eventually deleted the tweet but not before being mocked for failing to vet her sources.
Here are some of the reactions:
The incident even caught the attention of Sins himself, who retweeted screenshots of Wolf's blunder on his profile.
This is not the first time Wolf has been ridiculed for vetting her sources. In February, she claimed to have head an Apple employee "boasting about attending a top secret demo" where "they had a new tech to deliver vaccines w nanopatticles that let you travel back in time."
The post was later deleted by Twitter as part of its crackdown on misinformation.
Last month, Wolf was accused of having confused evidence of sexual crimes against children and animals with the persecution of gay men in the Victorian era, in her controversial book Outrages.
Klippenstein has a history of pranking high-profile figures on social media. In 2019, when he was a senior investigative reporter at The Young Turks, he tricked Republican Rep. Steve King into sharing a message of support for Jack Nicholson's character in A Few Good Men.
