A troll enraged followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory after joking about putting “nanobots” inside the bodies of moviegoers, particularly those attending the box-office hit Sound of Freedom.
In a tweet on Wednesday, which has already been viewed more than 2 million times, a writer and comedian known by the handle @mrnastynodrama joked that he was fired by the movie theater chain AMC after refusing to add a mysterious liquid to customer’s sodas.
“I work at AMC and just got fired for refusing to add this liquid to a customer’s soda,” he wrote. “We were instructed specifically to serve this to Sound of Freedom audiences. I am a microbiology student and took it to the lab to examine and found what looks like nanobots inside.”
The over-the-top jest quickly led to further trolling, causing other users to make similarly ridiculous remarks in an effort to mock those prone to conspiratorial thinking.
“Work at an AMC in Kentucky and i can confirm they asked me to do this as well for all Sound of Freedom audiences,” another joked. “I didn’t refuse tho, i obliged. Im sorry but i needed the money bc me and my buddy Randy are gonna go go karting this weekend so i can’t get fired.”
The Sound of Freedom is a film based on the true story of a former Department of Homeland Security employee who worked to take down prostitution rings and pedophiles. The group in question, however, known as Operation Underground Railroad, has been criticized by human trafficking experts for its exaggerations and numerous false claims. While the film undoubtedly touches upon a very real and serious issue, the Sound of Freedom has received pushback given its links to QAnon, which believes America is run by a ring of pedophiles.
The film’s leading actor Jim Caviezel, who famously starred as Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s 2004 hit The Passion of the Christ, openly touts the primary tenants of QAnon. In a recent interview promoting the film, Caviezel even repeated debunked claims surrounding adrenochrome, a substance that conspiracy theorists falsely believe is harvested from the bodies of children to be feasted upon by pedophiles. QAnon believers are also susceptible to discredited claims about vaccines being spiked with deadly substances, leading many to fall for the nanobots claim.
In response to the tweet, many failed to recognize the joke or patted themselves on the back for figuring out that the ludicrous claim wasn’t actually true.
“This guy is a liar and is disgusting. Let’s see your termination letter, Andrew,” one user replied. “Let’s see the results of a lie detector test Andrew! I went through your profile…you should watch what you write because you can be arrested for this kind of false accusations. You’re a shill.”
Yet the most bizarre responses came not from the QAnon crowd but from supporters of AMC. More specifically, those who tried to bring down Wall Street by buying the flailing company’s stock in 2021.
AMC supporters have somehow become convinced that the tweet is actually aimed at devaluing the company and in turn its stock.
“Spreading lies to harm a company maybe with the intent of Market manipulation?” one AMC supporter asked. “Definitely Defamatory. Needs some looking into because this can’t be legal.”
The tweet was ultimately hit with a disclaimer noting that the claims were “disinformation.” Even Twitter’s official Community Notes account highlighted the tweet as it continued to go viral.
In the end, as one Twitter user perfectly described, the tweet highlighted just how bizarre the culture wars have become in modern-day America.
“It’s so funny this joke tweet got a community note and like 500000 blue checks calling the poster a Qanon cultist and saying there’s market manipulation going on,” the user wrote. “Just fully immersed in the ‘culture war’, all thoughts are vibes now.”
