Truth rating: 0
2:15 pm, August 12th, 2012
(GettyImages.com)
Earlier this week, Robert Pattinson was the subject of shameful, baseless allegations claiming he cheated on Kristen Stewart with a series of women.
Apparently, blindly publishing that string of previously debunked nonsense wasn’t enough for some sites.
On Sunday, the highly trafficked Gather network chose tawdry sensationalism over sense, posting a bewildering article suggesting that Pattinson’s “multiple, bisexual affairs” may have driven Stewart to cheat.
You read that correctly.
According to the story, “rumor has it” that Pattinson’s purported “extra-relationship sexual conquests included men as well, two of whom were his Twilight Saga co-stars.”
This is approaching actual slander.
Where did this “rumor” start?
It seems to originate in the despicable, clueless ravings of the same “insider” who bombarded various tips lines this week with recycled — and unequivocally false — rumors about Pattinson’s alleged trysts with women ranging from Ashley Greene and Sarah Roemer to Megan Fox and Caitlin Cronenberg.
We’re not sure how this painfully uninformed Internet screamer managed to have his or her hysteria legitimized by actual outlets, but those sites’ lack of discretion is alarming.
In any case, Gather quotes the infamous “insider” as saying that back in 2009, “There was also talk of [Pattinson having] affairs with Kellan Lutz and Peter Fascinelli.”
The misspelling of Peter Facinelli’s name is just about the 938th indication that this so-called “preternaturally well-informed inside source” knows absolutely nothing.
There’s no additional information, no evidence, no pictures, no third-party quotes, no sightings, no context… nothing.
Just an anonymous message board lurker throwing out Lutz and Facinelli’s names and an assertion that “Rob is strongly rumored to be bi-sexual.”
The Gather post does the rest of the damage, trying to give itself distance from the allegations (“Is any of this true?”) while repeatedly implying there’s something to them.
“Is Robert Pattinson a callous, bisexual serial cheater, and Kristen Stewart a long-suffering girlfriend who finally snapped and had an affair of her own?” speculates the site.
The outlet doesn’t pretend to have the faintest idea.
It cops out, “Ah, showbiz. It’s almost impossible to know what’s real.”
No, it’s not.
Don’t spread unsubstantiated garbage without a shred of support.
That should be the rule.
What’s “impossible” for certain sites seems to be restraint when there’s a rumor — any rumor, however fabricated — to share.
As Gossip Cop reported on Friday, when the heterosexual affair rumors about Pattinson were circulating, we’ve covered the actor a lot since our site started in 2009, our sources have been impeccable, and we’ve heard NOTHING to suggest he ever cheated. At all.
For the “Hollywood insider” (and unscrupulous media outlets) to make bizarre allegations about Pattinson having flings with Lutz and Facinelli just proves how desperate both the source and the story are.
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