Nearly one million Facebook users were duped over the weekend when a fake post allegedly from Ryan Gosling started circulating on the Internet.

The post came from a page deliberately making people think it was from Gosling. The post was accompanied by a picture of Ryan holding a baby boy. The hoax revealed that Gosling had adopted the young boy after the boy’s mother passed away from cancer. The post ended with “Ryan” explaining that he had to give the boy up when his biological father fought for custody.

This touching story fooled hundreds of thousands of people, and had people feeling very emotional for the real Ryan. Below is the post as it read on Facebook:

“This father’s day, I’ve decided to tell the story of how I became a father,” the post began. “This little guy was only 9 months old when I became his dad. His mom and I were great friends before she passed away from cancer. I promised her, I’d always look after him. So, I had decided to step up and become his dad. He brought me so much joy. He was my everything. 1 year later after the adoption, his biological father wanted him. Of course, I put up a fight, but he won. That 1 year of being his father taught me how to love unconditionally. We have to stop and be thankful for our children and children should stop and be thankful for their parents. What I truly learned most of all is, every child needs love.”

At the end of the post, there was a link to another site that was selling a Ryan Gosling T-shirt that reads “Young Wild and Free.” The store claims that the money from each shirt ( $22.50) will be donated to the Orphanage Home Foundation, which does not exist.

Image via Wikimedia Commons