Snopes Actually Fact-Checked a ‘Die Hard’ Meme

The recent Christmas holiday brought with it the return of some great modern traditions, including marathons of A Christmas Story and Lifetime’s barrage of holiday flicks. It has also brought the annual posting of Die Hard Christmas memes.

One popular meme featured actor Reginald VelJohnson, who played Sgt. Al Powell in the film. The meme references Powell’s actions in the film as if they were real.

While just about anyone who uses the internet would understand that the Die Hard meme is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the film, Snopes, the fact-checking website, didn’t appear to get the joke.

It actually posted an article titled “FACT CHECK: Did Sgt. Al Powell Stop a Terrorist Attack at Nakatomi Plaza?” in which it gave an explanation that people shouldn’t be fooled, and there was no terror attack in L.A. in 1988.

And no, Snopes wasn’t being funny or sarcastic.

Here’s the meme.

To counter what it sees as dangerous misinformation, Snopes took a far-too-serious approach to the Die Hard meme. “Was there really a terrorist attack at Nakatomi Plaza over Christmas in 1988? Was Sgt. Powell really responsible for thwarting that attempted act of evil? Well, not really, unless you incorrectly insist that the 1988 action flick Die Hard was a documentary.”

The very idea that Snopes actually saw this as a serious issue to be addressed should give anyone pause in considering their overall credibility. Snopes has been criticized for their questionable “fact checking” in the past, and they’ve been accused of having their own bias. Their overreaction to a meme isn’t helping.

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