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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

日本ファクトチェックセンターCulture & entertainment

アイヌの踊りが1919年に撮影された

Publisher’s rating: ほぼ正確

The review examined a circulating video described as an authentic Ainu dance filmed in 1919. It traced the footage to “A Trip through Japan with the YWCA,” a film available through the National Film Preservation Foundation. The review reports that the nine-minute-and-45-second colorized version matched the NFPF video except for its color, and that the dance appears after 4:42 with an English intertitle identifying it as a ceremonial dance. The original footage was black and white; the color version had been produced by an anonymous account that said it used AI to colorize old black-and-white films. (S1: “YouTubeのリンクにある9分45秒の動画はカラーであることを除くと、この動画と全く同じだった。”; “このチャンネルでは昔の白黒フィルムをAIで自動的にカラー化した動画をアップしています”) To assess whether the dancers were Ainu, the review examined intertitles in the source film. It reports that one identifies the people as Ainu and describes them as the aboriginal people of northern Japan; another, appearing at 4:17, refers to an annual bear festival. The review also says a bear procession follows later in the film. It separately reports that the head of education and outreach at the National Ainu Museum considered it reliable that the people shown were Ainu from Shiraoi at the time. (S1: “「A Trip through Japan with the YWCA」の4分頃には、「アイヌは日本の北方先住民だ。”; “国立アイヌ民族博物館の森岡健治教育普及室長に取材したところ、「この動画に映っているのは、当時の白老のアイヌの人々であることは信頼できる」との回答も得た。”) The review’s conclusion is therefore about the historical footage and the identity of the people depicted, not about the circulating color treatment being original. It says the underlying footage shows Ainu people in a film from the 1910s, while distinguishing the original black-and-white film from the colorized version shared online. (S1: “動画は、1910年代に公開されたアイヌの人々の姿である。ただし、オリジナルの白黒映像がカラー化されていた” )

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

This is the only English song sung by Mohammed Rafi at the United Nations Organization in 1970

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim links a video featuring Mohammed Rafi’s singing to a specific setting and date: the United Nations in 1970. FACTLY’s review says the video was shared with that claim, but its stated finding is that there is no historical record of Rafi performing at the United Nations. That directly undermines the claimed venue and event; the excerpt does not identify the video’s original recording location or independently establish where it was filmed. The review also challenges the claim’s description of the song as his only English song. It reports that Rafi sang two English songs, naming “Although We Hail from Different Lands” and “The She I Love.” Thus, even apart from the unsupported UN setting, the claim that this was his only English song is inconsistent with the review’s account. FACTLY describes a relevant keyword search that led to articles and blog posts about Rafi, and says those sources highlighted his singing in English and other languages. The excerpt does not name those sources or provide records documenting the alleged 1970 performance. On the evidence presented in the review, the claim combines an unsupported UN performance with an inaccurate assertion that Rafi sang only one English song.

dpaCulture & entertainment

Dies ist eine echte Titelseite des Magazins Titanic.

Publisher’s rating: Das ist keine echte Titelseite der «Titanic», wie ein Blick in den offiziellen Web-Shop des Magazins zeigt.

The claim concerns a purported October 2023 Titanic cover circulated on social media. It depicts children dressed as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy carrying empty pumpkin-shaped baskets, alongside a child dressed as an Orthodox Jew with a basket full of sweets. The dpa review says the magazine did not publish this image; it compared the circulating cover with Titanic’s official shop and examined details of the purported issue. The review reports that the shop’s actual October 2023 issue showed people celebrating with Nazi symbols in a bathtub and bore the headline “Falsches Spendenkonto angegeben: TITANIC rettet aus Versehen den STÜRMER.” It also says the shop displays covers dating back to the magazine’s founding in 1979, and that the alleged Halloween cover was not among them. These checks directly address whether the image was a genuine magazine cover, rather than simply whether Titanic had ever addressed Ukraine. The review identifies an additional inconsistency in the image: it is marked “Nr. 11,” whereas Titanic’s October issues are numbered “Nr. 10.” It notes that Titanic had previously covered Ukraine aid on an August 2023 cover, but this does not authenticate the separate Halloween image. The excerpt does not identify who created or first circulated the alleged cover.

Belarusian Investigative CenterCulture & entertainment

Традиция давать отчество на территории Беларуси насчитывает тысячу лет

Publisher’s rating: Это недостоверная информация. Вместо отчеств наши предки использовали патронимы — это прозвища от имен предков по мужской линии. По форме они были похожи на отчества и заменяли фамилии.