A viral social media post falsely claiming New York Giants rookie defensive end Abdul Carter was disciplined for viewing explicit material during a team meeting has been debunked as a hoax originating from a known parody account.
The rumor, which circulated widely on the platform X (formerly Twitter) Monday ahead of the Giants’ “Monday Night Football” game against the New England Patriots, claimed Carter was benched after his headphones disconnected while watching pornography in a meeting.
The claim is false. While Carter did face disciplinary action Monday, it was for tardiness, not the behavior alleged in the viral post.
Here are the facts regarding the situation:
The Hoax:
The rumor began with a post from the account “Wesley Steinberg” (@WesSteinberg), a profile that frequently impersonates an NFL reporter using a professional-looking headshot and verified checkmark. The account has a history of publishing satirical and fabricated news stories.
The post, published Monday, garnered over 20 million views. It alleged that Carter would miss the first defensive drive “for disciplinary reasons after getting caught watching porn in a team meeting when his headphones disconnected.”
Several sports aggregation accounts reposted the claim without verification, amplifying the falsehood across social media platforms before kickoff.
The Facts:
Credible reports confirm that Carter’s benching was unrelated to the viral allegations.
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Actual Infraction: According to Richie O’Leary of On3 and other beat reporters, the Giants disciplined Carter for being late to a team meeting.
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Disciplinary Action: Carter was benched for the start of the game, a common disciplinary measure for lateness in the NFL.
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Player Response: Carter briefly addressed the rumor on X before the game, writing, “Stop slandering my name,” before deleting the post.
Pattern of Disinformation The “Wesley Steinberg” account is a notorious “troll” profile that exploits the visual language of sports journalism—breaking news graphics, formal tone, and headshots—to deceive users. It relies on the rapid spread of sensational claims to bypass fact-checking.
In this instance, the fake report significantly outperformed the actual news of Carter’s lateness in terms of engagement, highlighting the challenges of verifying real-time information on social media platforms during live sporting events.
Carter, the third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Penn State, has faced criticism from local media for his on-field performance this season, but the allegations regarding the team meeting are entirely fabricated.
