New York Yankees legend and longtime television analyst Paul O’Neill does not have cancer, the YES Network announced on Wednesday.
According to The Athletic, a YES spokesperson wrote an email to news outlets that cover the Yankees to correct the record after numerous social media posts went viral in recent days claiming O’Neill had been diagnosed with cancer.
O’Neill, 62, has called Yankees games since 2002 as part of a rotation that also includes David Cone and Joe Girardi. While Newsday reported that O’Neill called games remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic because he was not vaccinated, the five-time All-Star outfielder has been back in the broadcast booth in person since 2023.
“I just spoke with Paul. He DOES NOT have cancer!” spokesperson Eric Handler wrote.
The Athletic’s story reveals that two separate Facebook posts went viral in recent days, spreading the supposed news of O’Neill’s diagnosis. One account included a link to a web article with fabricated quotes from Yankees executives. At least one of the Facebook posts still appears to be up.
As artificial intelligence-generated content proliferates across the internet, certain websites are increasingly posting outright fabricated content. The problem is especially bad on social media, where the right keywords or re-shares can easily help a post go viral.
Yankees fans need not worry that the beloved slugger and longtime broadcaster is going anywhere. O’Neill should be back calling games in the spring alongside Michael Kay on YES. Unfortunately, anyone who saw these viral posts may not know it for a while.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.