Conspiracy Theorists Believe Pizzagate Has Reached Etsy Based on Some Odd Pictures for Sale

The Gist:

• QAnon supporters tweeted about images of pizza being sold on Etsy for thousands of dollars.
• This was being compared to pizzagate and the 2020 Wayfair conspiracy theory.
• The conspiracy has since spread to other platforms.
• Several of the Etsy stores have since shut down.

In 2020, QAnon conspiracy theorists started spreading an unfounded story about Wayfair, which is a retail furniture store. According to the BBC, a "well-known activist tweeted about the high price of storage cabinets being sold," by the company. What set them off was the fact that all of the cabinets were listed with girls' names. This led to the belief that Wayfair was using this as a child-trafficking front as there were cases of missing children in the U.S. with similar names.

Shades of this conspiracy theory are present in another scenario that has hit the e-commerce company Etsy in December 2023. Standalone photos of pizza as well as pictures of children holding pizza and wings were being sold for thousands of dollars. It's certainly strange, but is something more sinister going on? Here's what we know about the Etsy pizza picture conspiracy.

On Dec. 10, 2023, a QAnon supporter tweeted out an Etsy listing for a "picture of pizza." The image, which was being sold for $9,000, showed two pizzas and a cell phone. "Don’t let them gaslight you anymore," tweeted @NiQole1776. "Who in their right mind pays $9,000 for a download of a PICTURE of pizza?" They then directed people to zoom in on the screenshot, but that didn't yield any questionable results.

Other similar examples were dropped into the replies, like this one from @baybgurrl. "Just found this. Where can I report this?" she asked regarding a "digital download of an encrypted megafile." Once again, the screenshot was of a listing for a picture of pizza. This one was on sale for $3,000 from the YummyYumPizza Etsy store, which was also selling images of children eating pizza and chicken wings.

The initial tweet gained traction as more QAnon conspiracy theorists picked it up. Pizzagate supporter and columnist Liz Crokin got wind of it, spreading the theory to her nearly 300,000 followers on Twitter. Crokin alleged that pizza is a "pedophile code" and then claimed the "FBI, DOJ, other law enforcement documents and mainstream media articles such as the Wall Street Journal" have reported this. She is also angry at Etsy for not allowing her to sell Child Lives Matter merchandise on their site.

Media Matters For America reported that the pizza pictures conspiracy theory was also found on "far-right message boards and right-wing platforms, such as 4chan, Gab, TheDonald, a major QAnon forum, and on Truth Social, along with far-right figures on Telegram, with some users on these platforms calling it 'the new Wayfair.'" It's also being shared on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit’s r/conspiracy subreddit.

This conspiracy theory even found its way to disgraced U.S. national security advisor to President Donald Trump, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn who on "several occasions peddled conspiracy theories about Islamic Sharia law coming to the United States," per CNN. He retweeted Crokin's long-winded tweet, which prompted a "Thank you General," reply from Crokin.

As of the time of this writing, several of the stores selling the pizza images on Etsy have been shut down. It isn't clear whether or not they were removed from Etsy or the actual sellers.