video posted<\/a> on his socials, a clearly anguished Daughtry declared \u201cenough is enough\u201d about \u201cfake bullshit news.\u201d Displaying examples of some of those fake posts \u2014 in which he supposedly had a fight with his wife, visited a country legend in the hospital, trashed newly elected New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, and announced tours with Bon Jovi and a hip-hop crew \u2014 Daughtry urged fans to not repost or respond to any of them. Daughtry tells Rolling Stone why he decided to go very public with this issue.<\/p>\n\n
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\n\tWhen did you first become aware of these types of posts?<\/strong>
People have been sending these to me for months. And at first I could laugh it off. Apparently, my wife was pregnant with twins again, and she\u2019s had a full hysterectomy [laughs]. Apparently, I was visiting Dolly Parton in the hospital. She would be like, \u201cChris Daughtry \u2014 who\u2019s that?\u201d You could shrug it off and say, \u201cWell, that\u2019s just nonsense.\u201d A lot of people that were sending it to me, including friends of mine. And I\u2019m just like, \u201cCome on, guys, why are you sending this to me? Instead of doing that, just report the page.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tIn one of them, you were also supposedly part of a hip-hop supergroup.<\/strong>
Yeah, we\u2019re doing a \u201clast tour,\u201d with Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Rihanna. And by the way, that would be an amazing tour! Although I guarantee that that fan base wouldn\u2019t want anything to do with us. But maybe I\u2019m wrong. It\u00a0could be a nice, nice little amalgamation of different styles that could\u00a0be fun.<\/p>\n\n\tIn another example, you were shown on a fake poster fo the alternate Super Bowl halftime show organized by Turning Point USA.<\/strong>
Yeah, and donating millions to Turning Point, all that stuff. It\u2019s ridiculous. And by the way, I think it\u2019s incredible that Bad Bunny is doing the halftime show. That\u2019s what representation looks like. Music should reflect the diversity and the beauty of the world we live in.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tBut it\u2019s frustrating. You see these \u2018\u2019quotes,\u201d so to speak, and headlines that are diametrically opposed to your own values, views, and beliefs. Unfortunately, there are people out here who believe this stuff, and that\u2019s when you feel, \u201cI gotta address this and deal with it.\u201d There are people who read these things and comment, \u201cI will never listen to him again\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m getting rid of all his music!\u2019\u201d We realize that\u2019s a small fraction of people, but unfortunately, we live in a world where false headlines can spread faster than the truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tAlong with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and others, you were also one of several musicians who was depicted supposedly paying \u201ctribute\u201d to Charlie Kirk.<\/strong>
I\u2019ve evolved quite a bit as a human over the last 20 years. I don\u2019t hold the same religious dogma I grew up with. I\u2019m all about equal rights, inclusion, equal rights for LGBTQ, and minority communities. I certainly don\u2019t stand with MAGA, Charlie Kirk, Turning Point or any other movement rooted in bigotry or intolerance or\u00a0exclusivity. So when it starts lumping me into these groups that do not align with my values and the things I stand for and where my heart is, it affects me on a deep level. I don\u2019t want anyone out there believing that. When it starts to step on or completely contradict things you stand for, that\u2019s when it hurts the most.<\/p>\n\n\tWhat made you decide to film and post that video on your socials? \u00a0<\/strong>
I went against my manager\u2019s wishes. He was like, \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be feeding this machine or drawing more attention to it.\u201d And I was like, \u201cFuck that.\u201d I want everyone to know this is absolute bullshit, and I will shout it from the mountain tops. And that was why I recorded the video. It\u2019s getting out of hand.<\/p>\n\n\tHave you received any feedback about your video post from friends or fans?<\/strong>
Oh, tons. \u201cI knew it! I knew it!\u201d There are a few who truly believed those things and said, \u201cThanks for clearing that up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tWas there any fake meme that at least made you chuckle?<\/strong>
Yeah, the one where my wife gave me a black eye. That was the one that I use the screenshot for the cover of the video, because it was just so ridiculous. I love that one because, first of all, it doesn\u2019t even look like me. Look at it!<\/p>\n\n
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\n\tSo what\u2019s you and your team\u2019s next step?<\/strong>
I don\u2019t pretend to know the ins and outs of how these things work, but I got to assume that these bots, or whatever these accounts are, are profiting on clicks. We had been reporting some of these pages ad nauseum, and nothing was being done about it, but I think one finally got taken down.<\/p>\n\n\tHopefully, enough of us make enough noise to where this stuff is harder to survive out there and the pages get shut down, and this stuff will cease to exist. I don\u2019t know. But at least I feel like a weight is off my shoulders putting that out there. We wrote this song \u201cArtificial\u201d because we saw this stuff coming. We didn\u2019t realize how bad it was going to get. I think there\u2019s incredible uses for AI. This is definitely not one of them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n