Fact Check: Did Lebron James call Karoline Leavitt ‘KKK Barbie’?

WASHINGTON, DC: A viral social media post claimed that NBA star LeBron James called White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt "KKK Barbie" in an interview.

The post quickly spread across Facebook and other platforms, with many users expressing outrage or sharing it as if it were fact.

Claim: LeBron James referred to Karoline Leavitt as ‘KKK Barbie’

The post originated from a Facebook page named 'America’s Last Line Of Defense', which has a following of over 300,000.

The meme it shared showed a quote attributed to Leavitt, in which she supposedly responded to LeBron by saying, “My family fought to end slavery, while yours came here from Jamaica in the 1930s.” The caption added, “LeBron messed with the wrong young woman. She did her research and put him right in his place.”

Fact Check: LeBron James did not call Karoline Leavitt ‘KKK Barbie’

There is no evidence that LeBron James ever used that phrase to describe Karoline Leavitt publicly or privately. A thorough search of Google News, social media archives, and verified media outlets yields no results linking James to the alleged comment. No legitimate interview, transcript, video, or social media post supports the claim.

Fact-checking site Lead Stories also investigated the rumor and confirmed it to be completely false. They traced the origin of the meme back to a known satirical Facebook page operated by Christopher Blair, a political humorist who runs parody websites that deliberately post fabricated stories to troll readers, particularly conservatives.

Blair, who goes by the online alias “Busta Troll”, has openly admitted in multiple interviews, including one with the BBC in 2018, that his work is designed to mislead those who take satire at face value.

His websites are riddled with indicators of fiction: category tags like “satire”, “fiction”, or “conservative fan fiction”, humorous or offensive “source” links, and frequent use of fictional characters such as “Art Tubolls” and “Joe Barron”.

While his pages do include disclaimers, many users overlook them and share the content as if it were real. In this case, the meme appeared without any visible satire tags or warning, making it even easier for readers to believe it was legitimate.

Lebron James has a perfect one-liner following Mavericks’ draft lottery win

At the time the fake quote was circulating, LeBron James was in the news for an entirely unrelated reason, posting laughing emojis in response to the NBA Draft Lottery results.

In his post, James shared nothing more than a string of laughing emojis, but fans quickly took it as him mocking the outcome of the NBA Draft.

With only a 1.8% shot at landing the top pick, the Mavericks stunned everyone by beating the odds and walking away with the No 1 selection. Fans were floored by the unexpected twist, and even LeBron James couldn’t hide and shared his reaction by posting laughing emojis.

The post also brought renewed attention to a March interview with Pat McAfee, where LeBron hinted at noticing a “pattern” in how the draft tends to play out.

James said at the time, “Listen, man, during the ball drop in the lottery, Cleveland got the No. 1 pick. I just don’t think that was –what a coincidence. Let's keep LeBron home. Patrick Ewing to the Knicks. Derrick Rose to the Bulls. I understand the assignment, guys.”