Oprah did not rig a reality television show contest so that the popular favorite would lose, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The Chronicle says that a set of spam blogs were put together, possibly based in Marietta, GA, to "upset the normal order of search trends."

According to Geekosystem.com, users on the internet forum 4Chan are responsible for the skewed vote in Anner's favor.

Rumors started swirling Tuesday that Oprah was rigging votes against Anner, the crowd favorite to win her reality television show contest. Over the past two days, "Oprah rigs votes against Zach Anner" and "Oprah rigs contest in favor of African-American" became top Google searches.

Earlier, a contestant named Dr. Phyllis accrued more than 300,000 votes and surpassed Anner in a matter of 20 minutes, raising eyebrows across the internet (screenshot here) and angering Anner fans. Anner had previously been in the No. 1 spot for a week.

The Oprah Winfrey Network said it will investigate the controversy.

Anner is a former University of Texas student and seasoned television host. He also has cerebal palsy and calls himself a "wheelchair-bound lady magnet."