PeakMetrics / Fact Checks
Culture & entertainment fact checks
Explore claims publishers have checked about culture & entertainment. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.
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Search by text or image3,169 published reviews in this topic
Claim: This is not Konark temple picture
Publisher’s rating: False
The review examines a social-media post claiming that a photograph shows a rare event at Odisha’s Konark Sun Temple: sunlight falling on a Shiva lingam. It says the post described the event as occurring once every 200 years and dated the supposed occurrence to 2017. The review’s investigation addresses the photograph’s location and origin, rather than whether such a solar event is possible in general. To check the claim, the reviewers compared the image with Konark-related posts and photographs, searched for reports of the alleged 2017 event, and performed a reverse-image search. They report finding neither a similar lingam image among the Konark material they examined nor news coverage of the claimed 200-year event. Their reverse-image search instead led them to the same image being shared as a Shiva lingam and to a Tripadvisor listing identifying it as being at the Nithyananda Hindu temple in Issaquah, near Seattle. The review then traced the image to a Facebook page for the Seattle Nithyanandeshwara Hindu Temple, where it says the photograph had been posted in 2012. It also quotes a reply by Nithya Amirthananda Ma, identified in the article as a coordinator of the North Carolina Nithyananda association, describing the object as an ice sculpture made each winter at the Seattle temple. On that basis, the review concludes that the image was not taken at Konark in 2017: it shows an ice lingam made at a Nithyananda temple in the United States.
5000-year-old picture of ancient Indian swimming with a life tank
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The post described a sculpture image as a 5,000-year-old picture of an ancient Indian swimming with a “life tank.” FACTLY’s review says it checked the claim by running a reverse-image search on the circulated photo. That search led to a similar image in a tweet describing an Assyrian soldier crossing a river with inflated animal skin as a buoyancy aid; the review then searched for more reliable sources using those terms. [S1]
Social media users are sharing a picture alleging it to be the cover page of National Geographic magazine.
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
ప్రాచీన కాలంలో లైఫ్ ట్యాంకులు వాడినట్టు చూపిస్తున్న 5000 ఏళ్ల కిందటి భారతదేశానికి చెందిన శిల్పం ఫోటో
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
Swami Vivekananda’s famous 1893 speech is lit up every day on the stairs of the hall where he gave his speech
Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING
The claim concerns the Art Institute of Chicago staircase associated with Swami Vivekananda’s speech at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions. The review distinguishes two points: the speech was displayed on the staircase, but the assertion that it was illuminated there every day was not accurate. The installation was a work by artist Jitish Kallat, titled *Public Notice 3*. (S1: “While it is true that Swami Vivekananda’s famous 1893 speech was lit up on the stairs of the building (Art Institute of Chicago) where he gave his speech, the stairs were not being lit with his speech every day.”) To check the installation’s duration, the review says it consulted the Art Institute’s website. The page described the work as on exhibition from September 11, 2010, through September 12, 2011, and as “Currently Off View.” The review also quotes the museum’s description: the speech text was displayed on LED panels on each of the 118 risers of the historic Woman’s Board Grand Staircase, next to the site of Vivekananda’s address. (S1: “However, one can read from the website that the installation (‘Jitish Kallat: Public Notice 3’) was for exhibition during ‘Sep 11, 2010–Sep 12, 2011’ and ‘Currently Off View’.”; “With Public Notice 3, Kallat converts Vivekananda’s text to LED displays on each of the 118 risers of the historic Woman’s Board Grand Staircase of the Art Institute of Chicago, adjacent to the site of Vivekananda’s original address.”) The review further describes checking later views of the staircase. It says a Google Maps view captured in November 2011 showed no Vivekananda speech installation, and that later photos and videos showed either another installation or none. Those observations support the distinction between a genuine past display and a permanent daily feature: the staircase did host the work, but the cited exhibition dates and later views do not support the claim that it remained lit every day. (S1: “In a view captured on Google Maps in November 2011, it can be seen that there is no installation of Vivekananda’s speech on the stairs.”; “Also, in other photos and videos of the staircase after September 2011, it can be observed that either there is some other installation or no installation on the stairs.”)
तस्वीर में हम बॉलीवूड अभिनेता अक्षय कुमार को उनके हाथ में ए.बी.वी.पी का झंडा लिये देख सकतें हैं,
Publisher’s rating: False
Claim: Missing context with Rajinikanth banner and an old lady picture
Publisher’s rating: Fact Crescendo Rating: Missing Context
இது மன்னர் ஹென்றி VIII தனது பூனை டகோபெர்டுக்காக தயாரித்த கவசம்
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
Claim: KGF fame Yash not a member nor full time campaigner of BJP
Publisher’s rating: Fact Crescendo Rating: Partly False
ఈజిప్ట్ కి చెందిన 5,500 సంవత్సరాల పురాతనమైన మూడు సింహాల విగ్రహం ఫోటో
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
जिस शख्स की पिटाई हुई वह हास्य अभिनेता मुनव्वर फारुकी है
Publisher’s rating: False
Escultura “Diva, da artista Juliana Notari, foi financiada com dinheiro público, via Sebrae.
Publisher’s rating: FALSO: Sebrae informou ao Comprova que não houve nenhum auxílio financeiro para a realização da obra. Tanto o Serviço quanto a Usina da Arte, entidade que financiou a obra, informaram que existe sim uma parceria entre os dois desde 2017, mas apenas de formação e apoio a empreendedores de comunidades vizinhas.
Claim: Misinformation about Kamal Haasan car insurance validity
Publisher’s rating: False
The review investigated social-media posts claiming that Kamal Haasan had not renewed his car insurance. The posts included a photograph of his car and an mParivahan screenshot said to show that its insurance had expired on March 6, 2020. The article says the screenshot was being shared as evidence that the insurance had lapsed.
Visuals showing the lighting illusion projected on the Umaid Bhavan palace in Jodhpur
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The claim concerns a social-media video said to show a lighting illusion projected on a tower inside Umaid Bhavan Palace in Jodhpur. FACTLY’s investigation identifies the footage instead as a 3D projection-mapping experience on Galata Tower in Istanbul, made to promote the Istanbul Youth Festival 2018. It concludes that the video has no connection to Umaid Bhavan Palace. To trace the video, the review says it used reverse-image searches on screenshots and found similar visuals on Behance, where the work was described as a projection-mapping experience on Galata Tower for the festival. It also found the visuals and event description on Cream Studio’s website, and an article about the tower projection on Live Design. The review further reports that Istanbul’s municipal executive committee published an article about the experience and that the municipality shared event visuals on its official Twitter account. As an additional location check, FACTLY compared the tower in the video with Galata Tower images on Google Maps and reported that they looked similar. It also said it found no such tower inside Umaid Bhavan Palace. These findings support the review’s identification of the footage as Istanbul festival-promotion material, rather than a palace projection in Jodhpur.
Die Silvesterparty des ZDF mit zahlreichen musikalischen Gästen wurde wegen der Corona-Pandemie dieses Mal ohne Publikum veranstaltet. Und vermeintlich auch ohne Maskenpflicht. Ein bei Facebook verbreitetes Foto des Backstage-Bereichs mit Hinweisschildern wird dahingehend kommentiert (hier archiviert). Die «Vertreter der GEZ-Medien» hätten «maskenfrei» herumlaufen können.
Publisher’s rating: Das ist falsch. Nur in ausgewiesenen Bereichen unter freiem Himmel konnten die Mitwirkenden unter Einhaltung eines Abstands von zwei Metern ihre Masken vorübergehend absetzen, so das ZDF. Außerhalb dieser Bereiche habe es eine «dauerhafte Maskenpflicht» gegeben.
The claim concerns the ZDF’s pandemic-era New Year’s Eve party, held without a live audience, and a Facebook post using a backstage photo to suggest that the broadcaster’s staff and guests could move around without masks. The review reports that ZDF rejected the allegation that there was no mask requirement, and describes exceptions limited to designated outdoor areas: performers could temporarily remove or change their masks at controlled positions, while maintaining a two-metre distance. Elsewhere, the review says, masks were required. To explain the photo, the review cites ZDF’s response to the German Press Agency. ZDF said the production site had separated areas under an officially approved coordination and safety plan, where contributors could temporarily remove or change masks. The areas were marked and signposted; the pictured sign apparently referred to one of them. The exception therefore did not establish that masks were optional throughout the site. The review also identifies the image’s provenance and the broader precautions visible in the material: it says the circulating image came from a video of the event’s setup, which showed disinfectant dispensers and notices on tent doors, including notices about mask requirements inside the tents. This is consistent with a limited, signposted outdoor exception rather than the post’s implication of unrestricted mask-free movement.
Claim: Rajinikanth not made any announcement regarding his name and photo
Publisher’s rating: Altered
The review investigated a viral Sun News Tamil news card claiming Rajinikanth had barred the AIADMK and BJP from using his name or photographs in the election. It traces the circulated post to a Facebook post made on January 2, 2021, and says the card itself displayed December 29, 2020—the date Rajinikanth announced he would not launch a political party. The review says it checked whether that announcement contained the alleged prohibition and found no such statement in it. To assess the card’s provenance, the fact-checkers compared it with Sun News Tamil cards published on December 29. They found a card featuring the same photograph but carrying a different message: an apology to people expecting him to start a party. The review also describes the viral card’s Tamil font as unlike Sun News Tamil’s usual style and says the section containing the disputed claim appeared to have been edited separately. The review reports that a Sun News Tamil online employee, Manoj, confirmed the card was fake. Based on the comparison with the December 29 card, the absence of the alleged wording in Rajinikanth’s statement, and that confirmation, the review concludes that the viral card was edited to add a false claim; it does not establish that Rajinikanth made the announcement attributed to him.
