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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

NewtralCulture & entertainment

La imagen viral de un torero arrepentido

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns a viral image said to show Colombian former bullfighter Álvaro Múnera repenting and deciding to leave bullfighting. Newtral reports that the man in the image is instead Spanish bullfighter Javier Sánchez Vara, who continued to appear in bullfighting arenas. Sánchez Vara said the photograph was taken in Chota, Peru, on July 26, 2007, and described the moment as an ordinary pause to wipe sweat from his face—not an expression of remorse: “me estaba limpiando el sudor y ya está.” He also rejected the interpretation directly, saying, “Ni hay arrepentimiento, ni nada.” Newtral says it sent the image to several bullfighting experts and, with their help, contacted Sánchez Vara. The article also distinguishes the real history of Múnera from the story attached to the photo: Múnera left bullfighting in 1984 after being left quadriplegic by an injury during a bullfight, and later became an animal-rights activist. The image therefore does not depict Múnera or document the decision attributed to him; its caption combines a misidentification with a misleading interpretation of the pictured moment.

Fact CrescendoCulture & entertainment

Claim: Hindi inscriptions in Tanjore big Temple

Publisher’s rating: Fact Crescendo Rating: False

The review investigated social-media posts and a circulating video alleging that Tamil inscriptions at Thanjavur’s Big Temple were being removed and replaced with Hindi inscriptions. It says the posts had circulated for several weeks and that the examined Facebook post was published on April 22. The article’s stated conclusion is that no Hindi inscription was installed at the temple; the script and history of the stones shown in the video were being misrepresented. To check the claim, the reviewers say they searched Google for news reports and found coverage by Vikatan, Puthiya Thalaimurai, The Indian Express and The Hindu. According to the review’s account of those reports, the Archaeological Survey of India clarified that the writing on the stones was in Devanagari script and that the inscriptions dated to the period of Maratha ruler Serfoji. The review further identifies them as Marathi inscriptions, not new Hindi inscriptions. The article adds context for why such inscriptions could be at the temple: it describes additions to the complex under later Pandya, Nayak and Maratha rule, and says that Serfoji II held a consecration ceremony and Marathi inscriptions were placed in the temple complex. It also rejects the claim that the stones were newly installed in a protective cage: an Archaeological Survey official, as quoted in the review, said the stones had been collected from Thanjavur and nearby areas and were kept in a separate iron enclosure because they contained important information. The review’s conclusion is that the posts and associated video were false.

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Emanuel Eminiki divorced Miss Nigeria 2017 and married Miss Nigeria 2018

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review investigates a social-media post claiming that Nigerian footballer Emanuel Eminiki divorced one Miss Nigeria to marry another. It identifies the specific allegation as a claim that he divorced Miss Nigeria 2017 and married Miss Nigeria 2018, and says similar posts circulated on multiple platforms. The review’s account is that Eminiki had not been married before his 2018 wedding to Iheoma Nnadi, so the claim’s premise of a divorce and prior marriage is contradicted by the reported chronology. The review also distinguishes Nnadi’s pageant history from the titles in the post. It says she won the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria contest in 2014, not Miss Nigeria in either 2017 or 2018. Thus, the post misidentifies her contest and year as well as portraying Eminiki’s first marriage as a remarriage. The excerpt does not provide independent documentation of the wedding or pageant result, so these details are presented as findings reported by the review. As further context for the viral post, the review says its two pictures came from Eminiki and Nnadi’s pre-wedding shoot, and that they appeared on the photographer’s official Facebook account. It also traces the post’s circulation to a post by Nigerian singer Reekado Banks, which it says was later deleted after Eminiki asked him to remove it. These details explain the images’ reported origin; they do not support the claim that Eminiki had divorced a previous Miss Nigeria.

Aditi ParidaCulture & entertainment

Rapper Xxxtentacion Found Alive in 2019

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned an Instagram post, shared in April 2019, saying that the late rapper XXXTentacion had been found alive while police searched for a missing child. The post alleged that police discovered a house in the woods, found him there, and took him into custody for a six-month sentence. The review also addressed a Trend-news.com story alleging that he had staged his death. (S1) The review traced the image in the Instagram post to a different event: XXXTentacion’s December 2017 trial and arrest-related coverage. It reports that an image search, filtered to show images from the previous year, returned the same picture used in the post. The review identified it as an image used by Drillking in a story published on 15 December 2017 about seven new felony charges against the rapper. Thus, the image did not establish that he had been found alive in 2019. (S1) The review also notes that Trend-news.com described itself, in its “About Us” section, as containing “jokes that are created by users,” and says the story about a staged death had been archived. For the chronology, it reports that XXXTentacion was shot and killed outside a motorsport store in Deerfield Beach, Florida, on 18 June 2018; it cites confirmation by the Broward Sheriff’s Office identifying the victim as Jahseh Onfroy, also known as XXXTentacion. These points, together with the older provenance of the image, contradict the post’s claim that he was found alive in 2019. (S1)

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Deepika and Ranveer are working for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns an image said to show Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party. FACTLY’s review identifies the image as altered: it says the couple’s photograph was taken during a 2018 visit to Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai, and that BJP-favoring words were added to the saffron shawl they wore. The review describes using Google Reverse Image search to find similar images. It reports that those images showed the photograph from the temple visit and concludes that the couple did not wear a BJP shawl. On the evidence described in the review, the image does not establish that they were working for or supporting the BJP; the apparent political message was inserted through editing.