Fake USA Today video falsely claims Church of Satan praised Paris Olympics opening ceremony

A video purporting to be a USA Today report claims the Church of Satan has thanked the organisers of the opening ceremony for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. But this is not a real USA Today report, and the Church of Satan has made no such comment. 

The clip features a voiceover that says: “The Church of Satan thanked the organisers of the Olympic Games for the magnificent opening ceremony” and supposedly quotes a high priest of the church, Peter H. Gilmore, saying it was a celebration of “freedom from an entrenching divinity”. It goes on to claim an “in-depth dissection of the games” was discussed on the Church’s podcast, Satansplain.

The USA Today logo is visible in the top corner of the video and text appears in the same style as genuine reports by the media outlet. It shows footage of Paris during the 2024 Olympics, as well as of Mr Gilmore and the Satansplain page on X (formerly Twitter). 

A post featuring the video on X with over 3,300 shares has the caption: “So the entire Olympic ‘distraction’ was a Satanic circus. And now they come out with it, after gaslighting us for three weeks?” Screenshots from the clip have been shared multiple times on Facebook. 

However, the video is not a real USA Today report—the clip has not been shared on the organisation’s website or any of its social media channels. USA Today confirmed in an article that it “did not report or publish the video”. 

A spokesperson for USA Today told Full Fact: "The post circulating on X using the USA TODAY logo and branding is fake. The USA TODAY Fact Checking team has identified the false post to mitigate the spread of misinformation.” 

The Church of Satan also reposted the video on X with a caption confirming Mr Gilmore had not endorsed the opening ceremony. It included a quote from him saying: “I have no interest in the Paris Olympics. Having not viewed it, I could not possibly comment on, nor endorse, the opening ceremonies. I have not been interviewed by anyone concerning this subject. Statements posted anywhere claiming otherwise, are lies”. An administrator of the Church of Satan referred us to this post when we reached out for comment. 

Moreover, the Facebook page for the Satansplain podcast also said Mr Gilmore “never made such comments, he was never on Satansplain, and USA Today never wrote such an article”. 

The Church of Satan describes its position as a form of atheism in which the “most important person (the ‘God’)” is the individual self. 

The Olympic Games organisers did apologise after a sequence of the opening ceremony depicting Greek god Dionysus came under criticism by some Christian groups, including the Catholic Church in France, as it was perceived to be a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting ‘The Last Supper’. 

This is not the first time we’ve come across fake content that appears to be from credible sources, particularly media organisations—a genre of misinformation known as ‘imposter content’. We’ve previously written about another video supposedly from USA Today reporting on an alleged “brawl” involving a Ukrainian security officer in a New York bar, as well as debunking those falsely claiming to be videos by Euronews, and the BBC supposedly reporting on Bellingcat investigations. 

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