Associated Press, Variety falsely claim Dave Chappelle supporter screamed profanities, was aggressor at Netflix walkout — and both outlets issue retractions



If you spent any time perusing Thursday's story in TheBlaze about the Dave Chapelle supporter who hilariously succeeded in exercising his free speech in the face of hostile, left-wing Netflix protesters, you watched the video of the mob members destroying his sign, bumping him backward, and screaming profanities in his face.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @johnschreiber

The guy didn't lay a hand on anyone — and, in fact, he made his hands visible as he spread them wide in a preacher-like, profanity-free pronouncement: "I'm just here to say that jokes are funny, people! Dave Chappelle is a funny guy! I love Dave! I don't know why all the violence! I don't know why all the hate! I just love Dave Chappelle! Dave Chappelle! Wooo!"

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @johnschreiber

Here's the clip. Content warning: Profanity:

A couple of people with signs supporting #DaveChappelle try to interrupt a rally in support of a Team Trans employe… https://t.co/2uAVFQX411

— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) 1634753954.0

Yet, the Associated Press got the idea that the Chappelle supporter was the one screaming profanities — and Variety managed to call him the aggressor.

What are the details?

Turns out the Chappelle supporter — Vito Gesualdi — is a comedian as well, which makes sense since given how humorously he handled the naked hostility all around him.

And Gesualdi posted a ton of tweets in the last couple of days detailing what happened to him as he subverted the Netflix walkout — and what the media did to him as well.

First up is what Variety tweeted out:

@Variety https://t.co/TXrhUoSMCE

— Jpsmith (@jpsmith412) 1634922809.0

The magazine got roundly torched for using a photo of Gesualdi with the mob in his face and adding that "counter protesters pushed against trans speakers."

Soon enough Variety walked it all back: "The photo attached to an earlier version of the above tweet did not accurately illustrate the reporting from our story. We apologize for any confusion."

"Well the damage has been done," one commenter wrote to Variety. "You slander a poor gentlemen who everyone saw was not the aggressor. You can't lie about what you wrote and stated."

The magazine left up the text of the original tweet but switched out the photo of Gesualdi.

In addition, the Associated Press made a false claim about Gesualdi, saying in a photo caption that he shouted profanities at the "peaceful" Netflix protesters:

"Comedian and videographer Vito Gesualdi screams profanities as he engages with peaceful protesters begging him to… https://t.co/3ArasC9jy4

— YOUTUBE.COM / VITO (@VitoGesualdi) 1634796620.0

Gesualdi added in a subsequent tweet that "those 'peaceful protesters' broke my s**t and tackled my buddy to the concrete. What a load of s**t." He also pointed out that the AP's false caption became "stock" and that the "lie is on dozens of news sites now. Any lawyers in the house? This is BS."

The only profanities being uttered at the moment — well, screamed — came courtesy of a protester banging a tambourine at Gesualdi and repeatedly ordering him to "repent motherf***er!"

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @johnschreiber

How the photographer in question — standing directly behind the "repent motherf***er" protester when the photo was taken — thought Gesualdi was the one cursing is anybody's guess.

But after some detective work — courtesy of writer Jesse Singal, who broke down the false caption using photographic facts based on the video of the incident — the AP changed its caption. However, Gesualdi was still displeased with how things were shaking out, quite understandably:

Worth noting that my co-host Dick Masterson is currently at the hospital getting a CT scan after having his head bo… https://t.co/OfOVH9gwDc

— YOUTUBE.COM / VITO (@VitoGesualdi) 1634855281.0

The last laugh?

It's fitting that Gesualdi very well may have elicited the last laugh (for now, at least) in the whole debacle. He took to Twitter on Friday to convince his adversaries that he's not a threat, and they can stop doxxing him at any time — and then hit 'em with the following sign off: "And to be clear: I love trans people! But my trans friends all have a sense of humor."

(H/T: Hot Air)

Man reportedly called cops on himself multiple times in attempt to manufacture a George Floyd 'situation'



Police in the Seattle metro area arrested a young black man on two counts of false reporting after he allegedly called the cops on himself while pretending to be someone else on multiple occasions.

According to talk radio host Jason Rantz, Arlington police believe that the suspect, Tamon Leverette, was attempting to "goad" law enforcement into racially profiling him. Leverette's Community Corrections supervising officer reportedly told police that Leverette had mentioned to him that "he could see himself in a similar situation as 'George Floyd.'"

EXCLUSIVE: Police were called after a report of a Black man brandishing a gun. The man later complained that he was… https://t.co/7FpesliT4R
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@(((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio) 1614823276.0

What happened?

On Feb. 22, Leverette called police to report a black teenage male in a tan hoodie, who was supposedly brandishing a handgun with a red bandana tied around it — which is often a symbol of gang membership in the "Bloods."

"Well, I'm at the bus stop, and there's a colored young man and I can see a pistol right there," Leverette said during the call. "I saw him fidgeting with a pistol at the bus stop, so it's kind of scared me."

During the call, Leverette claimed to be "Stacy Williams," and the incident report noted at the time "it sounded like a male speaking in a higher pitch to simulate that of a female's voice."

When police arrived on the scene, they located Leverette and briefly searched him, but didn't find any weapons.

"Tamon pulled up his left pant leg, showing me a Department of Corrections (DOC) GPS tracking ankle band," the officer wrote in the incident report. "He informed me that he was not doing anything wrong, just waiting for the bus to come so he could go to his DOC check in with his assigned DOC Officer."

No charges were filed and the two parties went their separate ways.

Then the very next day, Leverette told his supervising officer that he had been the victim of racial profiling. The officer wrote in an incident report that Leverette told him "he was stopped and frisked by 'Everett Police' for no reason the previous day because of 'being black.'"

But when the officer reached out "Stacy Williams" to follow up, Leverette's scam unraveled.

"I noted that the voice mail was set up by a mail with a voice that seemed very similar to that of Tamon," the officer reported. "I asked Dispatch if this phone number had been previously used for any calls to 911 Dispatch. The Dispatcher notified me shortly after that the phone number had called 911 on five separate occasions in December of 2020 for 'Civil' calls at an address of 520 Commercial Ave, Darrington, WA. Dispatch advised me that the only name used to call into 911 on those incidents was 'Tamon L.'"

After police confirmed that the phone number belonged to Leverette, they arrested him for false reporting.

What else?

During the investigation, police discovered that Leverette had allegedly attempted to goad police into a similar situation on at least one other occasion.

Last December, Leverette reportedly called police, pretending to be "Eric Johnson," to report a black teenager wearing "black and red" and brandishing a gun in the presence of his children.

19-year-old faked his own kidnapping just to get out of work, police say



Arizona police say a 19-year-old man who claimed to have been kidnapped earlier this month went on to confess that he made the whole story up just to get out of work.

What are the details?

When police responded to calls on Feb. 10 and found Brandon Soules near a water tower in Coolidge, Arizona, he had both his hands bound behind his back as well as a belt and a bandana stuffed inside his mouth, the Casa Grande Dispatch reported.

During initial interviews with law enforcement, Soules alleged that he had been the victim of a kidnapping when two masked men struck him in the head outside his home, leaving him unconscious, and shoved him inside their vehicle. He proceeded to say that the kidnappers drove him around in the vehicle for some time before dropping him off at the location where he was discovered.

But after investigating the reported incident and Soules allegations, Coolidge police discovered that he had fabricated the story. Soules would eventually admit to his lies when confronted with the evidence, and on Feb. 17, was arrested and booked on the charge of false reporting to police.

Police updated the members of the community in a media release to let them know that "no kidnapping or assault occurred" and, consequently, that they didn't need to worry about two masked criminals at large in the area. Police added that Soules "admitted during an interview that he made up the story as an excuse to get out of work."

How did they find out?

In an interview with KNXV-TV, an unidentified officer recalled how Soules claimed that he had been abducted by the offenders in front of his home the morning of Feb. 10, but surveillance footage from the street at that time never showed any such incident occurring.

Arizona man accused of faking own kidnapping to evade work www.youtube.com

Detectives also reported that Soules alleged the kidnapping was spurred on by a large sum of money his father had hidden somewhere in the community. That also proved to be false. But once he had concocted the scheme, he went on to stage the scene.

"He informed us that he at first stuffed a bandana in his mouth, and afterwards, he took off his own belt and bound his hands," the officer told the news outlet. "[Then] he laid on the ground and scooted out near the side of the road where somebody could see him."

What else?

The question on everyone's mind: What job did this guy have that he went to such great lengths to avoid having to show up for work? Well, Soules was reportedly employed at The Tire Factory, an automotive shop in the area.

And in a way, his plan worked, since he no longer will need to report to work at The Tire Factory. The company decided to let him go after news broke about his arrest.