Awkward! Nine’s Today show falls for a satirical fake news story about an Ed Sheeran lookalike robbing churches – but he’s actually a drug dealer
- Today Show has fallen for fake news story about a conman posing as Ed Sheeran
- The ‘news story’ about the case of mistaken identity came from satirical site
- Man in the picture is in fact a convicted drug dealer from the United Kingdom
Channel Nine’s Today Show has fallen for a fake news story about a conman posing as Ed Sheeran.
Newsreader Tracy Vo introduced the ‘news story’ by claiming a major manhunt was underway in Ohio for a man accused of robbing three churches.
‘This man has convinced three churches in his town that he is Ed Sheeran and he has performed ‘The Shape of You’ in front of congregations last weekend,’ she said.
‘When the pastor why he believed that the real Ed Sheeran would perform for $35 and a sandwich he thought that Ed Sheeran had fell on tough times.’
Karl Stefanovic burst into laughter and said ‘he looks like he needs more than a sandwich.’
Channel Nine’s Today Show has fallen for a fake news story about a conman posing as Ed Sheeran
However, they seem to have been unaware the story has come from a satirical news Facebook page.
And the man in the picture is in fact a convicted drug dealer from the United Kingdom.
The hosts later admitted on-air that they had been fooled by the story.
‘It turns out it was a fake news story all along. We did fall for this one. It was from a satirical news site,’ they said.
‘Still a good laugh.’
The Facebook page Portsmouth Ohio Official posted the mugshot of the ginger haired man on Tuesday along with the fake story.
‘The fugitive task force is looking for Ronnie Williams Jr. of Sciotoville for fraud,’ the post read.
‘He has convinced 3 local churches that he is Ed Sheeran and even went as far as performing The Shape Of You in front of Christ Community Church last Sunday.
‘When the pastor was asked why he believed the real Ed Sheeran would perform for 35 dollars and a sandwich, he said he just assumed he had fell on tough times.
‘If you have any information as to Ronnie’s whereabouts, message us immediately.’
The Facebook page Portsmouth Ohio Official posted the mugshot (Pictured left: Convicted drug dealer Andrew Campbell) of the ginger haired man on Tuesday along with the fake story (pictured right: Ed Sheeran)
According to the legitimate news site, Cheshire Live, the man is Andrew Campbell, from Chester in northwest England.
The 38-year-old was jailed in January 21 for dealing drugs.
When he was caught by police he tried to swallow a number of wraps of heroin and cocaine.