Liars, Whores, and Wars

FAKE NEWS NEWS .

David and Barbara Mikkelson founded Snopes' in 1995. They divorced in 2015, and now Barbara Mikkelson claims that David embezzled $98,000 from Snopes' bank account to spend on prostitutes and himself, according to the Daily Mail. (R) David has since remarried, to Elyssa Young, who has also been known as Eryn O’Bryn, a professional escort and porn actress. The bitter 2015 divorce of David and Barbara Mikkelson is the fuel that ignited the battle for the popular fact-checking Web site, Snopes, which is now resorting to a GoFundMe drive to keep it afloat. The showdown takes on added gravity because the popular site, owned by Baday, is one of the outlets that Facebook turns to for verification of stories when it receives complaints of fake news. Fans of Snopes have been responding in droves since Monday, when the company said that Proper Media — both tech partner and part-owner after buying Barbara’s shares in 2016 — has been withholding ad revenue. David Mikkelson said the company was in danger of running out of money and asked for readers to help it raise $500,000. By 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the GoFundMe site had already raised more than $530,000. [Full]