The claim: Gordon Ramsay kicked Lia Thomas out of his restaurant, told her to dine someplace ‘woke’
A June 26 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a picture of swimmer Lia Thomas alongside an image of celebrity chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay.
“Gordon Ramsay Kicks Lia Thomas Out Of His Restaurant,” the text underneath their pictures reads. It also cites a supposed quote from Ramsay that claims he told her to dine somewhere “woke” and uses the name from before Thomas transitioned.
The post was shared more than 1,000 times in a week.
Story about Ramsay, Thomas recycled from satire site
Thomas, who in 2022 became the first transgender woman to win the NCAA swimming championship, has faced public backlash for competing with women. In June, governing sports bodies denied Thomas’ challenge to a ruling that does not allow her to compete in the Olympics.
But there’s no evidence of a gender-related clash with Ramsay.
A June 25 article the user linked in the first commentof the Facebook post describes a scene in which Ramsay asked Thomas to leave one of his restaurants during a “bustling evening,” claiming the public’s reaction to Ramsay’s decision was mixed.
However, the article does not name the restaurant this supposedly took place in, nor have credible news sources corroborated the story. Ramsay and Thomas have not made any public statements about such an incident – because it didn’t happen.
The story was copied from a satirical news website called SpaceXMania, which published the story on Feb. 12. SpaceXMania identifies itself as a parody site on its About Us page.
An earlier version that used similar wording was published in January on Esspots, which is also a satire site.
The Facebook post and article are an example of what could be called “stolen satire,” where stories written as satire and presented that way originally are reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.
