Claim:
TV personality Simon Cowell has teamed up with late-night talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert to launch an uncensored “Truth News” channel.
Rating:
Shortly after ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” a rumor circulated online claiming that English TV personality Simon Cowell had teamed up with late-night talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert to launch an uncensored news channel called “Truth News.”
ABC briefly took Kimmel’s show off the air over remarks the comedian made in the political aftermath of the Sept. 10 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (ABC reinstated Kimmel’s show within a week of announcing the suspension, though broadcast companies Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group continued preempting the show on their stations. Sinclair ended the blackout on Sept. 26, 2025.) Meanwhile, Colbert’s network, CBS, announced the cancellation of his show in July, a move the network said was due to budget issues but that some critics suggested was retaliation for Colbert’s criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Facebook page Echoes of the South posted (archived) the alleged story about the threesome, sparking support from thousands of fans. The post displayed a collage featuring an image of Cowell on top of one showing Kimmel and Colbert standing together onstage at the 2019 Emmys. The story began, “Jimmy Kimmel just lit the fuse no network dared touch — and Colbert lit it with him. But the real gasoline was poured by Simon Cowell.”
Other Facebook posts circulated using the same caption, like this one posted on Sept. 27 (archived). Some of those posts featured links in top comments leading to articles hosted by WordPress blogs, such as one advertisement-filled story hosted on the news.azontree.com website (archived), which began as follows:
Jimmy Kimmel just lit the fuse no network dared touch — and Colbert lit it with him. But the real gasoline was poured by Simon Cowell. Yes, that Simon Cowell — the TV kingmaker who turned global television upside down with American Idol and The X Factor.
Now he’s stepped off the judging panel and into the media battlefield, igniting a war no one thought possible.” What began as fallout from one controversial remark about Charlie Kirk’s killing has spiraled into nothing less than a media rebellion.
Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, once rivals, shocked the nation by announcing the launch of an uncensored, unscripted news channel outside ABC and CBS control. No approval. No filter. No safety net. Just a vow to report what the networks won’t.
But then came the Cowell twist. The man synonymous with brutal honesty and global stardom declared that he would back the project — not as talent, but as architect and financier.
Snopes readers also searched the website to find out if the rumor was true.
A Google search for “Simon Cowell Jimmy Kimmel Stephen Colbert Truth News” found no news outlets reporting about the celebrities starting an uncensored channel. Prominent outlets would have widely reported this rumor, if true.
Rather, the person or people who authored the story fabricated the entire tale to take advantage of the current news cycle about Kimmel and Colbert. The story about a “Truth News” channel collaboration between Cowell, Colbert and Kimmel amounted to fiction, so we have rated the claim as false.
An examination of the Echoes of the South page found that it posted seemingly fraudulent stories about Simon Cowell nearly every day, including false announcements of his death (archived). The page also featured multiple instances of images and text that showed signs of being generated by artificial intelligence (AI). For example, the blog that the post linked to exhibited writing characteristics typical of AI, like using five em (—) dashes in one paragraph and making allusions to sources without attribution, like “insiders whisper.”
GPTZero, a tool for detecting AI in text, gave the blog a 100% likelihood of being AI-generated. Snopes contacted a manager of the Echoes of the South Facebook page to inquire about the authenticity of the posts displayed in its feed, and will update this story if we receive a response.
Many of the stories featured on the page could be characterized as “AI slop,” low-quality, AI-generated content designed to encourage clicks and shares. Overly heart-warming or dramatic, shocking stories about celebrities are one common type of slop. The individuals who generate and spread these stories aim to earn advertising revenue on websites linked from the aforementioned Facebook posts.
Nearly identical stories about different groups of celebrities also circulated in 2025, like this one (archive) about Rachel Maddow, host of “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC, teaming up with Kimmel and Colbert to launch a supposed “independent newsroom.” It is unlikely that these TV hosts would launch so many similar projects in such a short span.
For further reading, Snopes previously reported on a Cowell death hoax posted by a similar Facebook page.
Shark Sighting Shakes Coastal Calm—Is Nature Sending a Message?
What began as a picture-perfect afternoon by the sea quickly turned into a scene of controlled panic, as lifeguards raced into action after a shark was spotted cutting dangerously close to the shoreline. The swift evacuation that followed may have saved lives—but many are now wondering: was this just a freak incident, or the first sign of a deeper disturbance in the ecosystem?
A Fin in the Foam: The Moment Everything Changed
Beachgoers were lounging under umbrellas, children playing in the surf, when a flash of gray just beyond the breakers sent ripples of unease through the crowd. Witnesses say they saw the fin—sharp, unmistakable—gliding through the shallows, just meters from swimmers.
Lifeguards acted without hesitation. Sirens blared. Whistles blew. Swimmers were ordered out of the water immediately. Within minutes, the beach was cleared, and no injuries were reported. Thanks to their rapid response and steady coordination, a potential tragedy became a near-miss.
“It was like something out of a movie,” one eyewitness said. “One minute we were splashing around, the next, everyone was scrambling for shore.”
The Unseen Depths: Random Encounter or Ecological Shift?
While shark sightings aren’t unheard of along this stretch of coastline, the proximity of this particular encounter—and the growing frequency of such sightings in recent months—has sparked speculation.
Marine biologists caution against panic but acknowledge patterns worth watching. Warmer waters, shifting prey populations, and human activity could all be contributing to altered shark behavior. Some experts even suggest that the ocean is subtly pushing back against years of environmental imbalance.
“When sharks start showing up this close to the shore, it’s rarely without cause,” one marine ecologist noted. “We have to ask ourselves what’s changing beneath the surface.”
Coastal Response: Heightened Vigilance and Public Awareness
In the aftermath, local authorities have ramped up patrols and surveillance along the coastline. Drones, boats, and lookout stations have been mobilized to track any further marine activity near popular swimming areas.
Swimmers are now being urged to follow updated safety guidelines:
Avoid early morning or late afternoon dips—peak feeding hours for sharks.
Stay in groups when swimming.
Refrain from wearing shiny jewelry or bright swimwear, which can attract unwanted attention.
These precautions, officials say, are not meant to instill fear—but to promote respect for the ocean and its inhabitants.
A Wake-Up Call from the Deep?
The recent incident has reignited conversations about our evolving relationship with the sea. It’s a stark reminder that, no matter how familiar a beach may feel, we are always guests in a powerful, unpredictable realm.
And perhaps this encounter wasn’t just a fluke. Perhaps, as some locals believe, it was a warning—a ripple from nature itself that we’re crossing unseen boundaries, and the ocean is responding in kind.
With heightened awareness and proactive measures now in place, beachgoers can still enjoy the coast—but with a renewed understanding of what it means to share the shoreline with one of the ocean’s oldest and most misunderstood predators.