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Harper’s Magazine facetiously denounced the “lies” of the “nefarious CBC” after the esteemed U.S. monthly accidentally interpreted a joke CBC headline as genuine.

In its upcoming February issue, the magazine reported that “a Canadian student sued her university for failing to accommodate her allergies to cactuses, escalators, tall people, and mauve.”

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The story originated from a November 28 segment on This is That, a satirical news program on CBC Radio. Broadcast on November 28 the segment profiles Emily Stuart a student from the fictional University of Nanaimo who suffers from “visual allergies.”

“Basically, I’m allergic to things I see with my eyes … white socks, black shoes, babies, anything with a zipper, those signs leading to different classrooms … every day for me is a battle,” she says.

A recent Finding reported on a Canadian student's lawsuit. Her pain and life are lies perpetrated by the nefarious CBC. We regret the error. —

Harper's Magazine (@Harpers) January 14, 2013

Acknowledging the error on Monday, Harper’s wrote on its Twitter feed that the student’s “pain and life are lies perpetrated by the nefarious CBC.”

In a follow-up message, the magazine suggested that the program make its comedic intentions more obvious by posting their website content in Comic Sans, a typeface designed to mimic children’s lettering.