Internet 101: Trust no meme.

In this day and age, it's all too easy to doctor a fake tweet, DM or even a vagina-flicking meet-and-greet exchange for a viral laugh. Even worse, news outlets tend to run with these stories without actually ever verifying their authenticity.

And so it goes with this latest doctored, albeit admittedly amazing fake message.

In the past few weeks, a Katy Perry meme has been doing the rounds on Twitter: The photo series shows Katy on stage at her Prismatic Tour with a fan's phone in hand, reading a disparaging message about her vocal skills and exacting revenge by sending back a photo. And that much is true! As seen in the video below, the "Roar" singer really did accidentally stumble on a hater live in concert.

"I'm seeing all these messages about me," she explained to the crowd as she scrolled through her fan's WhatsApp group chat. "The last one says 'LOL I heard she can't sing live at all.' ALRIGHT! Let's send him a message," she maniacally declared before snapping a selfie or two. "He's not gonna be happy about that. Just sent him a little picture."

Upon finding out that the nasty non-KatyCat on the thread was in fact the fan's ex-boyfriend, she jokingly dealt a public shaming: "It's your ex-boyfriend and you still have a WhatsApp group with him? What are you doing? DO NOT TEXT YOUR EX!"

What isn't true, however — according to Katy herself — is the alleged screenshot of the exchange. In the doctored photo floating around, Katy captions the stage selfie with a hilariously scathing message: "You thought I would never see this chat, you little dickless monkey. You have no balls, p---y. C--t."

Incredible.

But after The Mirror (falsely) reported the meme's message as real, Katy finally decided to jump in herself and clarify.

"I NEVER wrote those words, that is an EDITED picture or the person added it after I took it. I would NEVER use the C word," Katy tweeted today.

Since then, a KatyCat has already claimed responsibility for the doctored photo, and is now basically completely mortified about accidentally upsetting his Queen. AS HE SHOULD BE. (We kid, of course.)

Takeaway lesson for the stans: Don't post fake photos that might go viral and turn into memes on Twitter which get lazily reported as truth by the media, or your fave will be pissed and definitely never RT you — or text your ex in concert — ever again.

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