THE BIG PHONY

This is a story that wasn8217;t a story, but became one anyway

Did you hear that Donald Trump recently left some waiter a 10,000 tip?
Oh, yeah? Where did you hear it from? Because if it was anywhere in the giant asteroid belt that is the celebrity blogosphere, or even at FoxNews.com, Defamer, E! Online or the Huffington Post, you might want to check your sources.

Everything about the story was false, such as the plausible-looking receipt showing the monster tip and Trump8217;s signature, the existence of Billy D, a putative waiter at Santa Monica8217;s Buffalo Club, as well as the reporting that Trump had been in Los Angeles. Trump told the New York Post8217;s Page Six that he wasn8217;t in California that day and that 8220;this was done by the stupid restaurant to get publicity8221;.

Not quite. The story was fabricated by a four-month-old snap-and-gab site called Derober.com, run by two brothers8212;both professional photographers8212;which specialises in doing funny things with celebrity-related images. Derober8217;s John Resig, 29, laughingly marvelled at the hoax8217;s success. 8220;How many people get on the front page of Fox News with a story that doesn8217;t contain one ounce of truth?8221;

A FoxNews.com representative did not deny that the story had been posted on the site for some time but noted that an update had also been added noting that the original story was false. The Huffington Post was another high-profile patsy. Arianna Huffington explained her site8217;s reposting of the story as an unavoidable anti-perk of the Internet news flow. 8220;Yes, things move very fast on the Internet,8221; she wrote. 8220;The downside of this: occasionally an inaccurate story can get a lot of quick pick-up. Upside: the Internet corrects itself VERY quickly.8221;

On the other hand, said Derober8217;s Resig, not a soul had contacted him or his site to verify any of the evidence8212;let alone question it. 8220;You could drive a Mack truck through the holes in this story,8221; Resig said.

Most of the media contact he received was from organisations asking for permission to use the doctored receipt image. It was this image that functioned as the story8217;s visual keystone. Resig8217; brother Leo, 27, whipped it up using Photoshop in 15 minutes, he said.

After that, the Resig brothers8217; strategy was two-pronged: first, post the story on Derober and, second, create a phony sorority girl named 8220;Leslie Matthews8221;, a friend of the equally non-existent waiter Billy D, who would use her ditsy wiles to spread the story through the blogosphere. Adding to the plausibility of Derober8217;s account was a hyperlink to a blog post by Trump himself called 8220;The Waiter Rule8221;, where he wrote 8220;Think twice when you sit down at a table and get ready to order. And don8217;t forget to leave a big tip.8221;

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Resig was sure to note that though this is the first time Derober has knowingly posted false information, there is a disclaimer at the bottom of its front page that reads, 8220;The content that is published contains rumours, speculation, assumptions, opinions, and factual information. Postings may contain erroneous or inaccurate information.8221;

8220;We8217;re entertainers8212;that8217;s what we do,8221; Resig said. LAT-WP