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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

dpaCulture & entertainment

Das "Peace"-Zeichen ist eine "Todesrune"

Publisher’s rating: Das «Peace»-Zeichen basiert nicht auf einer Rune. Das Symbol hat eine klare und gut dokumentierte Entstehungsgeschichte, die keine Verbindung zu nordischen Schriftzeichen hat. Unabhängig davon steht die umgekehrte «Algiz»-Rune auch nicht für den Tod. Das ist eine erst Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts aufgekommene Fehlinterpretation des Symbols.

The review addresses the claim that the Peace sign is a “death rune.” It distinguishes the sign’s documented design history from a later interpretation of a different symbol: the reversed Algiz rune. The review says the Peace sign was designed in 1958 by British graphic designer Gerald Holtom for a campaign for nuclear disarmament, and that its components came from the semaphore alphabet rather than from runes. Holtom’s explanation, quoted from a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament archive page, connects the design to the letters “N” and “D” for “Nuclear Disarmament.” The review also traces the “death rune” interpretation to early 20th-century völkisch esotericism. It says those interpreters treated the Algiz rune as a “life rune” and assigned the reversed form a death-related meaning. Although the reversed sign resembles the shape inside the Peace symbol’s circle, that resemblance does not establish that the Peace symbol was based on a rune. The account therefore separates the Peace sign’s documented origin from the later rune interpretation used to support the claim.

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

A New York-based orchestra performed a Tamil song

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a viral video presented as showing the New York Philharmonic Orchestra performing a song from the Tamil film Anbe Vaa. The review identifies the song as “Rajavin Parvai Raniyin Pakkam” and distinguishes the musical arrangement from the footage shown alongside it: the video was not an authentic recording of that orchestra playing the song. The review’s conclusion is that the claim is false. [S1]

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Image from the wedding of Nirmala Seetharaman’s daughter, where the bride is seen sitting on a man’s lap while the bridegroom is tying her knot

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The image was shared as showing Nirmala Sitharaman’s daughter, Parakala Vangamayi, seated on a man’s lap while her groom tied the wedding knot. FACTLY reports that the image instead shows Indian fast bowler Prasidh Krishna and his wife, Rachana. It also clarifies that the man holding the bride is her father, not a priest. The review describes how it checked the image: a reverse image search led it to Krishna’s Instagram post, where he had shared the photograph. The review says he posted it on 08 June 2023 and reports that Krishna and Rachana married in a traditional South Indian wedding ceremony. These details identify the couple in the image as Krishna and Rachana, rather than Vangamayi and Pratik Doshi. FACTLY distinguishes the image from Vangamayi’s wedding by noting that media reports placed her marriage to PMO official Pratik Doshi in Bengaluru on 08 June 2023, while the people pictured were identified through the image search and Krishna’s post. The review explains that the scene is a Kanyadaan ritual in a traditional Tamil Brahmin wedding: the bride is seated on her father’s lap as the groom ties the knot. Thus, the seating arrangement does not establish that the image shows Sitharaman’s daughter.

dpaCulture & entertainment

De 'harde feiten' over de Holocaust.

Publisher’s rating: De video zit vol met al lang achterhaalde theorieën die bepaalde aspecten van de Holocaust in vraag stellen. Deze oude claims die vooral de nadruk leggen op het aantal slachtoffers en details van gaskamers zijn al vaker weerlegd.

Boatos.orgCulture & entertainment

Vídeo mostra padre dançando forró durante arraial

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns a video circulated as showing a real priest dancing forró with a woman during São João festivities. Boatos.org examined the man shown in that video and concluded that he was not a priest: he was Papa Popó, a character performed by actor Inácio Falcão. The review distinguishes the character’s priest costume and performance from the claim that the dancer was an actual clergyman. The review identifies Papa Popó as a familiar presence at motorcycle gatherings and at the São João celebration in Caruaru, Pernambuco. It also points to a 2019 forró performance by the same character, which the review says was shared by Fábio de Melo. That earlier performance is background about the character, not evidence that the video in the present claim was filmed in 2019. The excerpt does not describe forensic analysis, a reverse-image search, or direct verification of the video’s recording location or date. Its stated identification rests on recognizing the performer as Papa Popó and citing an earlier NE10 interview that introduced him as “Papa Popó do Forró.”

El Detector / Univision NoticiasCulture & entertainment

Imagen de unas cebras con sus sombras proyectadas se ganó el “premio a la foto del año de National Geographic”.

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns an aerial photograph showing zebras and their shadows, shared in a June 2023 Facebook post with the assertion that it had won National Geographic’s photo-of-the-year award. The investigation identifies Beverly Joubert as the photographer and reports that she posted the image to Instagram in July 2018. The article describes a reverse-image search that led its reporters to posts identifying Joubert and linking to the original Instagram image. The decisive evidence is Joubert’s response in 2022 to a user asking whether the image had won the award. She directly rejected that assertion and said she did not know where it came from. The article reports finding this response among the comments on her Instagram post: “Esta imagen no ganó la foto del año de Nat Geo.” This addresses the specific award claim, rather than merely establishing where or when the image appeared. The article also notes that National Geographic shared the image on its Instagram account in May 2022, but made no reference to an award. That absence is supporting context, not the basis for treating the claim as disproved; the central evidence is the photographer’s direct statement. The investigation concludes that the photograph did not win the claimed award.

Factcrescendo Sri LankaCulture & entertainment

Pictures Of Tom Cruise With His Stunt Doubles !!

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerns viral pictures presented as Tom Cruise with his stunt doubles. Fact Crescendo’s review says those pictures were not documentary photographs of Cruise and his doubles: it identifies them as AI-generated images. The review reports that reverse-image searching led to the creator, Facebook user Ong Hui Woo, and to his post in the Midjourney Official group. That provenance directly addresses whether the images themselves show real stunt doubles. According to the review, Hui Woo posted the pictures on June 4 with a caption describing stunt doubles celebrating after the *Mission: Impossible 7* premiere. It says he later clarified that he had made the images with Midjourney and posted them in the group, and that people outside the group shared them without proper attribution. This account explains how images made as AI artwork could circulate as though they were genuine photographs. The review also discusses Cruise’s stunt work, including his remarks on *The Graham Norton Show* and a quoted comment from stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood about Cruise’s work on *Mission: Impossible – Fallout*. Those passages provide background about Cruise doing stunts, but the clearest evidence about the viral pictures is their reported AI origin. The excerpt’s broad statement that Cruise did not use stunt doubles in his action scenes should not be taken to establish that he never used doubles; the review’s image finding is narrower and specific.

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

1955 photo showing Italy’s famous singer Julia Markin auctioning her Brassiere

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a photograph circulated as showing “Italy’s famous singer Julia Markin” auctioning her brassiere in a city square in 1955. The post’s accompanying story says the crowd bid up to $3,000 and that the singer then criticized people for spending on clothing for sexual desires rather than feeding the poor. The review checks the image’s identity and provenance, rather than independently establishing every detail of that story. The investigation reports that reverse image search led to the same photograph in a Harper’s Bazaar article dated 20 November 2018. That article’s description says “Katie Holmes pays homage to the demonstrator’s bravado” and credits photographer Zoey Grossman. The review also found the photograph on Grossman’s Instagram, where she described it as part of her Harper’s Bazaar story depicting iconic moments in history and said Holmes was paying homage to a women’s-rights protester in 1969. The review further reports that a Harper’s Bazaar spokesperson told AFP the image came from a photo shoot in December 2018/January 2019, and that Holmes was reenacting an image of a protester outside a San Francisco department store in 1969. Taken together, the review’s image-search finding and the photographer’s and magazine’s descriptions identify the circulated photograph as a later fashion-magazine reenactment, not a 1955 photograph of Julia Markin. It also says it found no news report about the alleged 1955 auction; that absence is reported as part of the investigation, not as proof on its own.

Boatos.orgCulture & entertainment

om o novo projeto "Anitta só para baixinhos" a cantora afirma que vai introduzir o mundo do sexo a.. para crianças de forma lúdica e divertida

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim comes from a purported Isto É Gente post saying Anitta would create “Anitta Só Para Baixinhos” to introduce children to sex in a playful way. The review places the rumor in the aftermath of Anitta’s opening performance at the 2023 Champions League final, saying the post circulated as a screenshot attributed to the magazine. It describes the accompanying claim as a supposed declaration by Anitta, rather than reporting that she actually made one. [S1: “Na final da Champions League 2023 (disputada entre Manchester City e Internazionale de Milão) um fator fora de campo chamou atenção: a responsável pelo show de abertura do evento foi a cantora brasileira Anitta.”] [S1: “Um print atribuído à página da revista Isto É Gente está circulando junto com a informação que Anitta havia decidido criar um projeto ‘Só Para Baixinhos’, no qual ensinaria sexo a crianças.”] The review says it searched for Anitta’s alleged statement and found nothing beyond the circulating screenshot. Because the screenshot attributed the story to Isto É Gente, the reviewers also searched that site directly. They report finding other articles about Anitta, including one about her Champions League performance, but no report about the alleged project. On that basis, the review concludes that neither the claimed statement nor the cited magazine coverage could be substantiated, and says the project story was fabricated. [S1: “Ao buscar pela tal declaração de Anitta (que seria um tanto quanto estranha, aliás), nada encontramos além do print em questão.”] [S1: “Como as publicações citam uma fonte confiável (o site da Isto É Gente), resolvemos buscar diretamente no site em questão.”] [S1: “Achamos muitas notícias sobre ela. Tem história sobre o show na Champions League, sobre um encontro com um ator italiano e sobre ela não ter ideia de quanto ganhou. Houve, ainda, matéria sobre os ‘times que ela torce’. Nada sobre o tal projeto.”]

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Dance video of Saurabh Kirpal, an LGBTQI advocate and the son of the Former Chief Justice of Supreme Court BN Kirpal

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a social-media post identifying a man dancing in a video as Saurabh Kirpal, an openly gay senior advocate and the son of former Chief Justice of India B. N. Kirpal. The post also included a political remark about same-sex marriage and Hijras becoming Chief Justice. FACTLY’s investigation focused on the identity of the man in that video, rather than on the post’s political rhetoric. It reports that the video shows Damandeep Singh Chaudhary, not Kirpal. To check the video’s provenance, FACTLY says it searched screenshots using reverse image search, then searched relevant keywords. It did not find credible sources through the image search, but found the same video on the Instagram page “damandiaries.” The article says that page’s bio identifies Chaudhary as a digital creator and co-founder of Runway Lifestyle, and describes the video as showing him dancing to a Badshah song. Separately, the review reports that Kirpal addressed the viral video in a tweet, saying it was not him and condemning the mocking of people in that way. The review’s June 12 update discusses another video being circulated as a new dance video of Kirpal. It says that this separate video appeared on Chaudhary’s Instagram page on June 3, 2023. That later finding should not be confused with the original video addressed in the main investigation; both passages identify Chaudhary as the dancer, but the update concerns a different video.