Did Cher tell Karoline Leavitt to "sit down, baby girl" after reading out her bio on MSNBC? No, that's not true: The viral story about the singer reacting to a supposed rant from Leavitt about "out-of-touch celebrities who think they can lecture America" originated on a network of websites and Facebook pages run from Vietnam. It contained verifiably false details. Dozens of versions of the story with other celebrities reading the bio also appeared online, including Barbra Streisand, Joan Baez, Ted Cruz and many others.
The "Cher" version appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on a page named "Venus of Sound" on December 15, 2025. It read:
CHER READS KAROLINE LEAVITT'S ENTIRE BIO ON LIVE MSNBC -- THEN SAYS, "SIT DOWN, BABY GIRL."
The studio lights sharpened. Karoline Leavitt had just wrapped up her fiery rant about "out-of-touch celebrities who think they can lecture America."
Across the table, Cher adjusted her leather jacket -- timeless, glittering, absolutely unbothered.
Host Mika Brzezinski leaned forward with a knowing smile:
"Cher, Karoline says your activism is 'irrelevant, outdated, and rooted in a world that doesn't exist anymore.' Would you like to respond?"
Cher didn't flinch. She just licked her lips and gave a dismissive hair flip.
WATCH MORE: https://goalfield.live/.../believe-cher-dismantles...
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"Let's get real for a second, honey," she said in that unmistakable deadpan tone... then began to read.
"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."
The studio went silent.
Cameras zoomed in. Mika's eyebrows shot up.
Cher folded the paper and tossed it onto the table.
Then she leaned in -- eyes intense, voice steady, unmistakably Cher:
"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. Still Cher."
The room didn't breathe. Cher smiled -- cool, devastating, iconic.
"So if you want to talk about relevance... Sweetheart, take a seat."
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Sat Dec 20 22:32:30 2025 UTC)
Some posts also had a meme version of the same quote:
(Source: screenshot of supposed Cher quote about Karoline Leavitt)
The Facebook page "Venus of Sound" which was used to promote the story had a page transparency tab (archived here) indicating it was run by several people in Vietnam, among others:
(Image source: screenshot of the page transparency tab of the "[NAME GOES HERE]" page on Facebook.)
The Vietnam connection is significant, since fact-checkers, including Lead Stories, have identified a major source of AI-generated false stories coming from a single operation based in that Southeast Asian country. We have published at least 70 fact-check articles in 2025 focused on this content.
The Facebook post promoted an article (archived here) titled ""Do You Believe in Logic?": Cher Dismantles Karoline Leavitt on Live TV, Tells Trump Aide to "Sit Down, Baby Girl" cz", that claimed:
Even Cher's own X (formerly Twitter) account, famous for its stream-of-consciousness, all-caps style, updated shortly after the segment.
The tweet read: "JUST LEFT MSNBC. MET A GIRL WHO NEEDS A HISTORY LESSON. SIT DOWN BABY GIRL.
MOMMA IS BUSY.
#ICON #FACTS"
However, a search of the singer's X account for the phrase "JUST LEFT MSNBC" returned no results (archived here).
A search on Facebook for the phrase READS KAROLINE LEAVITT'S ENTIRE BIO ON LIVE MSNBC -- THEN SAYS, "SIT DOWN, BABY GIRL." (archived here) brought up dozens of results with almost exactly the same story but mentioning different celebrities, athletes and politicians. Lead Stories found posts with the names of:
- John Legend
- Jon Stewart
- Neil Young
- Dick Van Dyke
- Stephen Colbert
- Kelly Osbourne
- Joe Walsh
- Stevie Nicks
- Barbra Streisand
- Joan Baez
- Steve Perry
- Céline Dion
- Brandon Lake
- Ted Cruz
- Bob Dylan
- Candace Owens
- Sam Darnold
- Jimmy Kimmel
- Carlos Santana
- Rachel Maddow
- Neil Diamond
- Leann Rimes
- Alvin Kamara
- P!nk
- Patti Labelle
- Blake Shelton
(Image source: animation of Facebook search results for the phrase READS KAROLINE LEAVITT'S ENTIRE BIO ON LIVE MSNBC -- THEN SAYS, "SIT DOWN, BABY GIRL.")
Lead Stories has published a primer -- or a prebunk -- on how to identify these kinds of fake posts exported from Vietnam. It's titled "Prebunk: Beware Of Fake Fan Pages Spreading False Stories About Your Favorite Celebrities -- How To Spot 'Viet Spam'"
