Bostonians did not get a helping of Thanksgiving porn after all. Numerous media outlets and a big segment of the internet were fooled by a clumsy Twitter hoaxer today, with news reports claiming that Boston-area cable service provider RCN aired a half hour’s worth of hardcore pornography in place of CNN’s Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown last night. No such thing happened, says CNN parent company Turner broadcasting.
“Despite media reports to the contrary, RCN assures us that there was no interruption of CNN’s programming in the Boston area last night,” said a CNN spokesperson in a statement provided by Turner.
Earlier today, even CNN wasn’t quite sure however. “The RCN cable operator in Boston aired inappropriate content for 30 minutes on CNN last night,” the network said in a statement issued shortly after the “incident” went viral. “CNN has asked for an explanation.”
The story began when a single Twitter user with the handle @solikearose made the claim last night shortly after 10 PM ET. “Did anyone else with RCN in Boston see the hardcore porn that was broadcast by CNN by mistake?” the user asked. “I can’t wait until [RCN] wakes up tmrw and realizes that hardcore porn was broadcast on [CNN] instead of [Parts Unknown] tonight.”
The user has since made their profile private and the tweets are no longer available. See a screenshot below.
The story became a viral sensation this morning after several publications wrote about the incident without verifying it. RCN for its part was consistent in denying the incident actually happened, this morning replying to @solikearose’s tweets requesting further information, adding that it had received no other complaints.
Suffice to say, users hoping to see actual porn during an episode of Parts Unknown will have to settle for food porn instead.
