‘TrueAnon’ Podcast Host Brace Belden Started a Rumor About an Ebola Outbreak at Burning Man and Twitter Believed It

Mel Dawn

Sep 5, 2023 12:00 PM EDT

You might have heard about the massive downpour that flooded Burning Man over the weekend and left tens of thousands festival goers stranded in the middle of a muddy mess. But did you hear that Black Rock City has been quarantined by FEMA because Diplo caused an ebola outbreak? If you did, then you might have been wooshed by TrueAnon podcast host and elite troll, Brace Belden.

On Saturday, Belden began live-tweeting from Burning Man about a mysterious illness spreading across the stranded festival. The thing is, he was never at Burning Man. To fans of the podcast, Belden's tweets were obviously satire. But many of the Twitter users who had never heard of Brace Belden or TrueAnon took Belden's fiction at face value. I mean, why shouldn't you believe some random dude whose source is literally 'trust me bro'? What could go wrong?

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via @TrueAnonPod
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All it took was a few fake text message conversations and the beginnings of a vague narrative (source: trust me bro) to get the rumor started. Even doctored CDC posts and photoshopped graphics and news articles quickly circulated like wildfire.
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While Belden's ebola rumors were spreading all over Twitter, DJ and music producer Diplo posted a video of himself and Chris Rock getting ‘rescued’ by fans, who apparently helped them exit the muddy lake bed at Burning Man. Diplo's post went viral and Belden quickly jumped on the opportunity to imply that Diplo ‘broke quarantine’ after being spotted at the ‘outbreak site.’
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It didn't take long for TikTokers to make explainer videos about the situation, many of which included Belden's rumors.
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Clearly enjoying himself, Belden continued to stoke the fire he had created, likely laughing maniacally with each new tweet.
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Even Laura Loomer got wooshed!
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Incredibly, even when the evidence of a doctored image was right in their faces, those who wanted to believe the lies chose to see conspiracy rather than rationality.
Meanwhile, over at Instagram dot com, Belden did a little gloating through the @trueanonpod IG account.
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