Fact check #2
“State Farm claims Shannon Doherty using cancer diagnosis to get a payout”. I found this Headline on the New York post news website. I found this by searching celebrity news 2020. This article can also be found on buzz feed, or the local news but I came across this article and it sparked my interest to find the facts behind Shannon Doherty.
After clicking on this intriguing head line, I was brought to a website called Page six. I was then informed that State Farm on Wednesday claimed actress Shannon Doherty, “is just looking for sympathy, and a payout to get her California home repaired — by announcing her terminal stage 4 cancer diagnosis.” I was soon to find out after seconds of being on the page that the former actress sued State Farm in March 2019 after the insurance giant refused to pay the full amount for repairs on her home, which was damaged in the devastating 2018 California wildfires. According to page six I was also soon to come find out that Doherty, 48, on Tuesday revealed her breast cancer, saying her diagnosis was going to become public this week as part of the lawsuit.
The part of the article I was reading that instantly led me to fact check was whether or not she actually was saying she had cancer for sympathy.
I read that, “Doherty’s attorney, Devin McRae, told The Post it was “appalling” that State Farm would claim that Doherty only revealed her health condition to garner sympathy.”
“Of course cancer and a chronic respiratory ailment are directly relevant to the means and scope of fire and smoke remediation in her home and on her clothes,” McRae said.
I think it’s time for Duck Duck Go….
After heading to Duck Duck go I typed in the search engine the quote that I wanted to find out about. I was sure there were missing pieces to this story. I typed in, “Doherty’s attorney, Devin McRae, told The Post it was “appalling” that State Farm would claim that Doherty only revealed her health condition to garner sympathy.” on Duck Duck go and was overwhelmed with a bunch of articles. A few of the articles I first checked out were not helpful because they did not have any new information in them or the answers to my question. I finally found a helpful article and that was on people.com. This article was from 2016, but it led me to find out that Shannon Doherty used to have cancer and that was a helpful piece of information understanding this story. At first reading the headline I thought Shannon had just come out with cancer for the first time. I read about some stuff Shannon Doherty said in an interview years ago and it led me to really question if she was saying she had cancer for sympathy because she did not view cancer like that in the past. The article says,
“I’ve been given a really interesting opportunity and one that in a way, I kind of feel blessed,” Doherty told ET in an interview. “Cancer has, in a strange way, done some amazing things for me. It’s allowed me to be more me, like much more in touch with who I am, and much more vulnerable and the person that I always was, but I think it got hidden behind a lot of other stuff.” Shannon Doherty said this in an interview which now has me CONFUSED!
……. Time to fact check some more !!
The next thing I typed into Duck.Duck go was “Doherty’s cancer claim 2020”. This was the perfect keywords to search because it brought me to USA today.com where I was instantly thrown helpful information. The title of the article is “Shannen Doherty’s Lawyer Blasts State Farms Symothaty accusation”.
WOW was this not the missing piece of information I was trying to look for ?!?! ..You have got to love DuckDuckGo.
I reached the conclusion that the answer to my question indeed does exist. Shannon Doherty did anncouce her cancer on Tuesday, where I later read to find out she did have cancer in March 2015. Court documents also claim she suffers from a respiratory illness all which stemmed from the California fire in her house.
So yes there is a lawsuit going against State Farm over claims shannon Doherty was forced to pay out of pocket after her house was “severely damaged” in the 2018 Woolsey fire. She said in a “Good Morning America” interview that aired Tuesday that she decided to come forward with her diagnosis to get ahead of legal documents, which mention her cancer, being made public.
The answer to my question is no Shannon Doherty did not do this for sympthantu. She announced in the article I read from an interview With shannon..
“I’d rather people hear it from me,” she said. “I don’t want it to be twisted; I don’t want it to be a court document. I want it to be real and authentic, and I want to control the narrative. I want people to know from me.”
So yes, Shannon Doherty does have cancer, and she does not feel she should have to pay out of pocket for her repairs, BUT her cancer diagnosis has nothing to do with wanting sympathy.
To conclude, my overall goal in this post was to put the situation into context, but something to remember when it comes to celebrity headlines is
DRUM ROLE….
…… THEY ARE DRAMATIC to either to make the celebrity look better or worse.
Vanessa Mannion 