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FACT CHECK

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Stephen Curry DID NOT call Filipinos ‘stupid’ for voting for Duterte

The same week American National Basketball Association (NBA) star Stephen Curry was in the country for a three-day tour, at least two fabricated stories made the rounds on social media claiming he called Filipinos “stupid” for voting President Rodrigo Duterte into office.

Website teampacmanofficial.ml published the fake stories with the headlines:

“’Filipinos are STUPID because they voted a Killing President’ Says Stephen Curry on CNN Interview,” on Sept. 3; and

“There’s No Way I Apologize For What I Have Said. Filipinos Are Stupid Because They Voted A Killing President,” on Sept. 6.

Both stories carried photos of the Golden State Warrior point guard superimposed with his supposed “Filipinos are stupid” remark: the Sept. 3 story featuring a screen grab of his Feb. 24 interview with CNN International; the Sept. 6 story, a June 7 post-game photo by the Associated Press.

No reputable news organization has reported Curry ever making such a remark.

Neither does the video featured in the Sept. 6 fake story show Curry even talking about Philippine affairs. The video was a May 31 post-game press briefing uploaded on the NBA’s official Youtube channel. The NBA star was in Manila Sept 6-8, his second visit to the country. He first set foot in the Philippines in 2015.

(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)