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Tracy Chapman, left, and Luke Combs perform "Fast Car" during the 66th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP) Tracy Chapman, left, and Luke Combs perform "Fast Car" during the 66th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP)

Tracy Chapman, left, and Luke Combs perform "Fast Car" during the 66th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP)

Grace Abels
By Grace Abels February 8, 2024

No, Ben Shapiro did not say Tracy Chapman stole Luke Combs’ spotlight. That X post is fake.

If Your Time is short

  • The image of the Ben Shapiro post on X is fake. 

You’ve got a fast car. But the internet has Photoshop.

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs’ Grammy duet performance of Chapman’s 1988 hit "Fast Car" drew mountains of praise. But a viral image made it appear that conservative political commentator and podcast host Ben Shapiro was less than thrilled.

"Of course the Grammy cultural Marxists had to force us to watch some black queer female perform and steal the spotlight from Luke Comb’s popular new country music song," read typo-laden text in the image. "The woke war on straight white male success continues."

The image appears as if it was shared by Shapiro’s account on X.

Besides spreading on Facebook, we saw it being widely shared on X, with one post getting almost 3 million views.

(Screenshot of Facebook post)

The Facebook 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 and Instagram.)

Featured Fact-check

We found no evidence Shapiro ever shared this post. We reviewed his X timeline and searched archival sites. When we reached out to Shapiro’s team at the Daily Wire, publicist Jen Smith confirmed that Shapiro did not make the post. 

Shapiro weighed in on the Grammys during a segment on his podcast, "The Ben Shapiro Show." But he didn’t criticize Chapman. Moreover, he shared a link on his Facebook page to a Daily Wire article headlined, "WATCH: Tracy Chapman’s Unforgettable Grammys Performance Singing ‘Fast Car’ With Luke Combs."

Shapiro recently collaborated with rapper Tom MacDonald on their own song, "Facts," which reached No. 1 on iTunes after its Jan. 26 release.

But Shapiro did not accuse Chapman of stealing the spotlight from Combs.

The image that says he did is fake. We rate this claim Pants on Fire!

Our Sources

Email interview with Jen Smith, publicist at the Daily Wire, Feb. 8, 2024

Facebook post (archived), Feb. 6, 2024

X post (archived), Feb. 6, 2024

Facebook post (archived), Feb. 7, 2024

X post, (archived), Feb. 7, 2024

X post (archived), Feb. 7, 2024

X post (archived), Feb. 7, 2024 

X profile, accessed Feb. 7, 2024

Internet Archive, accessed Feb. 8, 2024

Archive.is, accessed Feb. 8, 2024

Facebook video, "Ben Shapiro DESTROYS the Grammys," Feb. 6, 2024

Facebook post, Feb. 6, 2024

Billboard, "Hot 100 First-Timers: Ben Shapiro Debuts With Tom MacDonald Team-Up 'Facts'," Feb. 6, 2024

The Washington Post, "Ben Shapiro's new song hit No. 1 on iTunes. How did that happen?" Jan. 31, 2024

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More by Grace Abels

No, Ben Shapiro did not say Tracy Chapman stole Luke Combs’ spotlight. That X post is fake.

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