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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Culture & entertainment fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about culture & entertainment. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

3,169 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Dubai airport runway is decorated with lights in the form of a Christmas tree

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns an image of runway lights arranged like a Christmas tree, shared as a photograph of Dubai airport. The review says the image does not depict Dubai: it is an artistic visualization made for Shannon Airport in Ireland as part of a Christmas advertising campaign. The distinction matters because the campaign image was presented as though it showed an actual Dubai runway, while the airport authority said it was a visualization rather than a real runway scene. To trace the image, the review reports conducting a reverse image search, which led to a post from Shannon Airport’s official Twitter account sharing the same image and describing a festive campaign. The review also checked information on Shannon Airport’s website about that campaign. That information said the campaign involved a runway redesign, but explicitly described the image as an artistic visualization produced for Shannon Airport—not a photograph of an actual runway. The review further says a news article about Shannon Airport’s advertising campaign also identified the image as an artistic visualization. Together, the image’s connection to Shannon Airport’s campaign and the airport authority’s qualification about what the image depicts contradict the claim that it shows Dubai airport’s runway decorated with Christmas lights.

Vishvas NewsCulture & entertainment

ஒட்டக முடிதிருத்தும் கலை, பாகிஸ்தான்,

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a photograph of a camel with designs on its coat, shared with the caption “Camel haircutting art, Pakistan.” Vishvas News investigated that specific image and concluded that the Pakistan attribution was false: the photograph was taken at a camel festival in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. The review reports that the image itself contains Hindi lettering reading “Camel Festival Bikaner.” To check the image’s setting, the review also located a YouTube video titled “Camel hair cutting art, Camel Festival, Bikaner, India, January 2014.” Its description lists camel hair-cutting art among the festival activities. The review says it contacted Dalip Singh, identified as the Rajasthan tourism department’s deputy director and core nodal officer. Singh stated that the viral claim was false and that the photograph was taken at Bikaner’s camel festival. These details address the same photograph and its claimed location: the lettering on the camel identifies Bikaner, the video title independently places the camel-hair art at the Bikaner festival in India, and the tourism official directly rejected the Pakistan attribution. The review’s conclusion is that the image shows camel-festival art in Bikaner, not Pakistan.

Vishvas NewsCulture & entertainment

A picture of a camel with art on its fur is viral on Facebook, writing, “Art of camel barbering, Pakistan

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a Facebook picture of a camel decorated with designs on its fur, described as “Art of camel barbering, Pakistan.” Vishvas News investigated the picture’s location and concluded it was from the Camel Festival in Bikaner district, Rajasthan, India—not Pakistan. The review reports that the Rajasthan Tourism Department’s Deputy Director, Daleep Singh, also identified it as a Bikaner Camel Festival picture. The investigation describes two checks on the image’s provenance. First, Vishvas News says it examined the writing visible on the camel’s fur and identified the Hindi text “Oont Utsav Bikaner,” meaning Camel Festival Bikaner. It also found a YouTube video titled “Camel Hair Cut Art in Camel Festival, Bikaner India, January 2014”; the review says the video description lists camel hair-cut art among the festival activities. These clues place the depicted camel at Bikaner’s festival, rather than supporting the post’s Pakistan attribution. The review further reports that Singh directly refuted the claim, saying the picture was of the Camel Festival in Bikaner. Together, the visible place-name, the identified festival video, and the tourism official’s confirmation support the review’s conclusion that the Pakistan caption was false. The supplied excerpt does not establish who originally took the photograph or when it was taken; the video’s January 2014 title is not itself proof of the photograph’s date.

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Photo of a Kashmiri boy who looks similar to the Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a photo circulated as showing a Kashmiri boy who looks like Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan. FACTLY reports that the image was digitally created using FaceApp, rather than being a photograph of the claimed boy. To investigate, the review says it used reverse image search and found Shahrukh Khan’s original photo in articles from iloveindia.com and Pakistan Today. It also reports checking the proposed editing method directly: the reviewer uploaded the actor’s photo to FaceApp, selected the “Age” filter and its “child” sub-filter, and produced an image similar to the one shared in the post. The reported image comparison and FaceApp recreation support the review’s conclusion that the circulated image is an edit of Shahrukh Khan’s photo. The review also notes that some comments on other posts described the image as FaceApp-edited, but identifies its own reverse-image-search and recreation steps as the checks used to verify the claim.

Vishvas NewsCulture & entertainment

Kangana Ranaut के भूतपूर्व #प्रेमी #आशिक Hrithik Roshan पहुंचे #किसान_आंदोलन समर्थन में

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post paired a photograph of Hrithik Roshan with the claim that he had arrived to support the farmers’ movement. Vishvas News investigated the photograph and reported that this claim did not fit the image’s actual setting: Roshan was attending a celebration in Mumbai, not the farmers’ movement. The review also says its searches found no news report that he had participated in the movement. To trace the image, the review says it used Google’s reverse-image search. It found a video uploaded on 6 January 2018 with the same thumbnail, describing Roshan as attending celebrations for Guru Gobind Singh’s birth anniversary. It also found a related video uploaded the following day whose description places Roshan, Ayushmann Khurrana and Urvashi Rautela at a Mumbai gurdwara. These results connect the viral photograph to an earlier event. The review further reports that Jaswinder Singh Jassi, an information officer for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, identified the photograph as showing Roshan at the January 2018 celebration of Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s 351st birth anniversary in Mumbai. The review’s evidence therefore identifies a different event and date from those asserted in the post; it does not establish that Roshan attended or supported the farmers’ movement.

Fact CrescendoCulture & entertainment

Claim: misinformation about news anchor panimalar panneerselvam

Publisher’s rating: False

The review examined a viral headline alleging a romance between news anchor Panimalar Panneerselvam and Kanna Pandian. It says that a matching cover image was also being shared, and describes the image as a fabricated cover rather than an authentic report: “இதனை, உண்மையில்லை, போலியாக உருவாக்கப்பட்ட அட்டைப் படம் என்பது தெளிவாகிறது.” [S1] The review’s conclusion therefore concerns the authenticity of the image and the claim it promoted, not evidence of a relationship. The account says Kanna Pandian told the publisher that friends had made the cover as a joke and that it later spread on social media, causing him trouble. It also reports that Panimalar objected to such mocking images and said they affected women personally: “விளையாட்டிற்காக நண்பர்கள் சிலர் உருவாக்கிய இந்த அட்டைப்படம், படிப்படியாக சமூக வலைதளங்களில் பரவி, தனக்கு வீண் சிக்கலை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளதாகவும் வருத்தம் தெரிவித்தார்.” [S1] The excerpt does not describe independent image-forensics tests or provide the image’s original file or posting history. Its stated support is the account attributed to Kanna Pandian, Panimalar’s response, and the review’s assessment that the cover was fabricated. It says the cover was being shared as though genuine, despite having been made as a joke. [S1]

Fact CrescendoCulture & entertainment

Claim: Did Thuglak published a cartoon to insult Tamils

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigated a social-media image said to show that Thuglak had depicted Tamils as ants who would be crushed by Rajinikanth’s van. It identifies the image as purportedly showing the magazine’s cover dated 7 June 2017 and says a reader had sent it to the publisher for checking. The altered image appeared to include the word “Tamils” on an ant-like figure: “அதில், ஒரு கார்ட்டூனும் இடம்பெற்றுள்ளது. அந்த கார்ட்டூனில், எறும்புகள் போன்ற உருவத்தின் மீது ‘தமிழர்கள்’ என்றும், ‘எதிர்ப்பாளர்கள்’ என்றும் எழுதியுள்ளனர்.” The investigation compared the circulated image with what it describes as the genuine cover. It noticed that the lettering for “Tamils” differed in font from the other words, then searched for the dated cover and says it found the original cartoon. According to the review, that original did not contain the word “Tamils”: “அதில், தமிழர்கள் என்ற வார்த்தை இல்லை.” The review concludes that the image had been edited to add that word, making the claim that Thuglak published the insulting version false. It says the image had been edited and circulated for several months with a political motive, but the excerpt does not identify who edited it or provide further documentation of that motive: “இதனை கடந்த சில மாதங்களாகவே, அரசியல் உள்நோக்கத்துடன் சிலர் எடிட் செய்து, ‘தமிழர்கள்‘ என்ற வார்த்தையை சேர்த்து, தமிழர்களுக்கு எதிராக துக்ளக் பத்திரிகை செயல்படுவதாகக் கூறி வதந்தி பரப்பி வருகின்றனர் என்று சந்தேகமின்றி தெளிவாகிறது.”

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Photo of Hrithik Roshan supporting the recent farmers’ protest

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a photo presented as showing Hrithik Roshan supporting the farmers’ protest. FACTLY says the image instead comes from a 2018 event in Mumbai: “It is an old photo from 2018 when Hrithik Roshan participated in Guru Gobind Singh Jayanthi celebrations in Mumbai.” It therefore says the photo is not related to the ongoing protest. The review describes checking the image against older material. It reports finding similar photos posted in January 2018 and identifies a YouTube video published on 6 January 2018 whose title describes Roshan attending Guru Gobind Singh Jayanthi celebrations with his father. FACTLY says “the same people from the photo shared in the post can be seen in the video.” It also notes that Filmfare.com published multiple photos from the 2018 event. Together, those reported matches support the review’s identification of the image as event coverage from 2018, rather than a photo documenting support for the protest. As additional context, the review says it found no recent social-media posts by Roshan about the farmers’ protest. That observation is separate from the image comparison: the central evidence reported is the photo’s connection to the earlier celebration, not simply the absence of a statement from Roshan.

Vishvas NewsCulture & entertainment

96 సంవత్సరాల వయస్సులో, భగత్ సింగ్ చెల్లెలు ప్రకాష్ కౌర్ ఈ రోజు మనల్ని వదిలి వెళ్లారు. ఏ రాజకీయ నాయకుడూ సంతాపం తెలపలేదు. అయితే, దేశభక్తులుగా మనమందరం తప్పక నివాళి అర్పించాలి.

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The post said that Prakash Kaur, Bhagat Singh’s sister, had died “today” at age 96, and urged people to pay tribute. Vishvas News reports that the post was shared by user Shyamu Yadav on the Facebook page IPS Pooja Yadav, and that the same claim was circulating again. The review’s investigation instead found that Kaur had died in 2014, so the post presented an old death as a current event. To check the date, the review says it searched Google using keywords about the viral post and found a Jagran Josh report dated 30 September 2014. That report said Kaur died in Canada at age 94, on Bhagat Singh’s 107th birthday. The review also says it contacted Professor Jagmohan Singh, identified as the son of Bhagat Singh’s sister Amar Kaur. According to the review, he confirmed that Kaur had died in 2014 and described the viral post as misleading. The age and timing in the viral wording therefore do not match the reported chronology: the review’s cited reporting and interview place Kaur’s death six years before the post’s renewed circulation, and at age 94 rather than 96. The article does not provide further details about the circumstances of her death or independently establish its exact date beyond the cited report’s account.

Vishvas NewsCulture & entertainment

Last time pictures of Masala King Mahashay Dharampal Ji (MDH), his heart kept beating for the country even in the last time

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review examined a video shared after Dharampal Gulati’s death that showed a man singing to him on a hospital bed. The accompanying Facebook post presented it as footage from Gulati’s final moments. The investigation found that the video had been recorded much earlier, so it did not show the time claimed in the post. To identify the singer, Vishvas News describes checking comments on social media and finding the video in a tweet by ABP News journalist Vikas Bhadoria. It also reports that Gagan Ahuja identified the singer as his elder brother, Rakesh Ahuja, and tagged him in a Facebook post featuring the video. Vishvas News then contacted Rakesh Ahuja directly. Ahuja told the outlet that the recording was made in September or October of the previous year, not during Gulati’s final moments. He said it was filmed at Mata Chandan Devi Hospital in Janakpuri, Delhi, with a doctor’s permission, while he and Gulati were enjoying music. This account contradicts the post’s presentation of the footage as a record of Gulati’s last moments.