A rumor that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled actor Tom Hanks’ passport and restricted his traveling circulated online in December 2025. For example, a Facebook page named Fame Zone posted the claim (archived) Dec. 10:
The caption read:
HOLLYWOOD’S NIGHTMARE UNLEASHED!
Tom Hanks’ passport is CANCELED! The Secretary of State just grounded “America’s Dad” as his secret Greek island paradise explodes into a chilling federal crime scene! Find out why the A-Lister is TRAPPED in the U.S. now!
Variations of the rumor spread elsewhere on Facebook, as well. At least one posted spread the claim in the form of a video generated by artificial intelligence.
Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, there was no evidence Rubio had taken such actions against Hanks.
Rather, the rumor about Rubio and Hanks originated with America’s Last Line of Defense — a Facebook page that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. Its bio states:
The flagship of the ALLOD network of trollery and propaganda for cash.
Nothing on this page is real.
The fictional story spread months after Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida, pulled from consideration a controversial bill that would have allowed Rubio to revoke passports of people who are deemed to have provided “material support for terrorism.”
America’s Last Line of Defense has a history of making up stories for shares and comments, sometimes relying on AI writing software to do its storytelling.
Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims by America’s Last Line of Defense in the past, including the assertion that Rubio revoked the passport of actor Rosie O’Donnell, a long-standing critic of President Donald Trump.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
