Claim:
Cher responded to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt with a retort after she allegedly called the singer “irrelevant” and “outdated.”
Rating:
A rumor that circulated online in December 2025 claimed Cher clapped back at White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt after she allegedly called the famous singer “irrelevant” and “outdated.”
For example, in a Dec. 21 Instagram post, “The View” cohost and political commentator Ana Navarro shared the purported Leavitt remarks and Cher response in a meme. Navarro added, “Pro tip: don’t come for @cher. She’ll snap you out of it.”
(@ananavarrofl/Instagram)
Later that day, a user managing a page displaying a verified badge with actor John Leguizamo’s name published a screenshot (archived) of Navarro’s post. The text caption, featuring a misspelling of Leavitt’s name, read, “Levitt got read by Cher! Well done! ha ha.”
(@JohnLeguizamoFans/Facebook)
Users shared the same rumor and alleged quotes, including with at least one alternative meme (archived), on Facebook (archived), Threads (archived) and Tumblr (archived).
In short, while Cher has consistently been an outspoken critic of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, the story was fabricated. Cher did not “clap back” to Leavitt, nor did Leavitt call Cher “irrelevant” and “outdated.”
The fake quotes originated from an advertisement-filled article written with the help of artificial intelligence. The website hosting the article displayed signs of its owners residing in Vietnam. The rumor stood as the latest in a long line of false stories — usually based on famous people in the worlds of entertainment and politics — promoted for at least the partial goal, if not the entire goal, of advertising revenue.
Searches of numerous news sources and political blogs — as well as Bing, DuckDuckGo and Google — located no credible reports about the matter. Prominent news media outlets would have widely reported the verbal scuffle if it had truly occurred.
Snopes emailed representatives for Cher, Navarro and Leguizamo to ask if they wished to share remarks about the fabricated nature of the quotes. We also emailed the White House to request general comment. Navarro, or another person in control of her account, removed her post (archived) after we sent our message — though it’s unclear whether our email prompted the deletion.
The fabricated Cher-Leavitt quotes
The meme shared by Navarro, Leguizamo and other users read as follows:
A rube named Karoline Leavitt, who holds the title of White House Press Secretary, recently said that Cher’s activism is “…irrelevant, outdated, and rooted in a world that doesn’t exist anymore.”
Cher’s response: “Let’s get real for a second, honey. Karoline Leavitt, Born 1997. Former White House assistant — tenure: eight months. I’ve had wigs that lasted longer than that. Lost two congressional races — both by double digits. Hosts a podcast with fewer weekly listeners than my cat’s Twitter account. Advocates ‘free speech,’ yet blocks anyone who challenges her. And her latest accomplishment? Calling a woman who has topped the charts in six different decades ‘irrelevant,’ while trending for all the wrong reasons. Baby girl, I’ve been fighting for rights, touring the world, and reinventing myself since before your parents went to prom. I’ve faced critics louder, harsher, and far more meaningful than anything you can type. And yet, here I am. Still here. Still singing. So if you want to talk about relevance… Sweetheart, take a seat.”
Leavitt lost only one congressional race, not two, per Ballotpedia. According to BBC News, she served as a speechwriter and then assistant press secretary during Trump’s first term from 2019 through January 2021 — a period longer than the eight months mentioned in the meme.
The origins of the rumor
On Dec. 20, the Factually.co fact-checking website published a report pointing to a Dec. 9 NewsBreak post (archived) as contributing to the promotion of the fake quotes. That post had more than 1,000 comments as well as a link redirecting to a Dec. 8 article on an ad-filled website.
The article falsely claimed Cher appeared with “Morning Joe” host Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC, now called MS NOW, where she supposedly clapped back at Leavitt.
The end of the article contained over-dramatic language matching the way AI tools generate conclusions for made-up stories:
By the time the segment ended, Cher hadn’t raised her voice once. She hadn’t insulted or demeaned.
She simply held up the mirror — and let the reflection do the talking.
And as viewers continued replaying the moment, one line echoed above all the rest:
“Sit down, baby girl.”
A sentence.
A warning.
A reminder that some legends don’t fade — they shine brighter under pressure.
Searches located previous AI-produced content — some misspelling Karoline as “Caroline” — falsely claiming Cher and Leavitt traded similar verbal blows.
For further reading, we previously reported on a story claiming Cher said of Trump, “You are the most unattractive man I have ever met in my entire life.”
