A fake Matt Chapman social media account duped San Francisco Giants fans, and media, into thinking that the third baseman was insulting his former teammate Blake Snell.
Shortly after news broke that Snell agreed to sign with the Dodgers, an account impersonating Chapman posted a photo of the Giants player from this past season with a snake emoji as the caption and the Kodak Black song “Super Gremlin” attached to the post. The lyrics in the highlighted portion of the track go, “We could’ve been superstars (superstars)/Remember when we was jackin’ cars (jackin’ cars)/Now it’s not safe for you (safe for you)/You switched like a p—y, lil’ b—h.”
The ruse to make people believe Chapman took not-so-subtle shots at Snell certainly worked. The post’s comments section immediately filled with Giants fans celebrating the post and its message, and it was the most-liked image of the account as of Wednesday morning. However, SFGATE received confirmation from Giants spokesman Matt Chisholm and Chapman’s representation, Boras Corp., that the account did not belong to the player.
But that didn’t stop media outlets from covering the post as if it were real. In since-deleted articles, both TMZ and the Fansided Giants blog, Around the Foghorn, did just that, with headlines that read “Giants’ Matt Chapman Seemingly Shades Blake Snell After Dodgers Signing” and “SF Giants star Matt Chapman throws major shade at Blake Snell for his betrayal,” respectively.
The fake post even made its way to sports radio, with KNBR host Markus Boucher bringing it up as if Chapman actually posted the image, caption and song.
“But now it’s not safe for you because Blake Snell switched up like a PLB,” Boucher said, paraphrasing the Kodak Black song. “… But yes, Blake Snell. Sending the subliminal messages with a little ‘Super Gremlin’ as the track and the snake emoji on his story. Sounds like he’s taking shots at Blake ‘The Snake’ Snell.”
Co-host Brian Murphy did say that he was “unfamiliar with Matt Chapman’s Instagram story game,” which could have been a hint about the legitimacy of the post.
The Snell news that broke late Tuesday evening was certainly a rough discovery for Giants fans. But those hoping to find catharsis in a star player talking smack at the departed free agent will have to look elsewhere.