CNN’s Thanksgiving programming was a feast of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Episode after episode aired on Turkey Day, from mid-afternoon until late into the night. 10pm’s offering of the flavors of New Mexico allegedly left a bad taste in one viewer’s mouth. They claimed the Boston market (no, not that Boston Market) had been flooded with 30 minutes of porn instead of, say, green chiles and Frito pie.
Twitter user @solikearose tweeted screenshots of the alleged incident, which outlets were quick to pick up on the supposed blunder because that shit sounds hilarious. More cautious sources like Gizmodo and the Verge instead waited for the fallout before posting anything on what’s been dubbed #bourdainporn.
At last, CNN found its true self in porn!#BourdainPorn pic.twitter.com/sK86LQ9oPo
— H XENARløS🐦 (@hx3n4r10s) November 25, 2016
And fallout there was! As writer Luke O’Neil pointed out, do y’all really think that if CNN aired half an hour of NSFW content, which is what @solikearose claimed, only one person would take to the internet to share screenshots of it?
https://twitter.com/lukeoneil47/status/802234720004227072
O’Neillwas also able to obtain statements from CNN and cable provider RCN, effectively negating the legitimacy of @solikearose’s tweets.
https://twitter.com/lukeoneil47/status/802225344556257280
https://twitter.com/lukeoneil47/status/802251579743145984
It’s worth noting that the screenshot itself also included subtle clues pointing toward this being nothing more than a hoax. Despite the Parts Unknown marathon itself being real, @solikearose’s images show the season and episode info for the episode just before the 1opm time slot. Season 7, episode 4 of Parts Unknown was dedicated to the state of Montana and aired at 9pm ET. The 10pm episode comes from the show’s second season.
@solikearose does, however, get the channel number right as well as the fact that it’s being broadcast in HD. As of this writing, the Twitter user has yet to publicly address the matter and has since locked down their account. Their bio now includes the line “sorry guys, weirdos sending me hate mail in the wake of #bourdainporn.”
