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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

Drag Queen story hour laat Drag Queens over hun seksuele fantasie vertellen tegen kinderen en hen over anale seks leren.

Publisher’s rating: De video van de protestactie tegen Drag Queen story hour in Brugge stelt het evenement misleidend voor. Aanklachten over seksualisering tijdens het voorleesmoment zijn ongegrond. De video gebruikt beelden van andere evenementen om een foutieve sfeer te scheppen rond het evenement in Brugge.

The claim concerns the March 12, 2023, Drag Queen story hour for children aged three to six at Salon Arents in Bruges. It originated in a protest video shared on social media, which alleged that the performer discussed sexual fantasies and suggested the event taught children about anal sex and gender transition. The review examined whether that video accurately represented what took place at this specific event. The review found that most of the video’s footage did not come from Bruges. It identified clips from events in Los Angeles, London, Canada and the United Kingdom, and reported that these were presented without context alongside the Bruges protest. The only image it identified as actually showing the Bruges story hour came from the social media of Ghent bookshop Rokko: it showed performer Bang Bang Ladesh displaying the book read to the children. The review says the book was a fairy tale in which princesses determine their own fate. For the specific allegations, the review cites Bruges Culture alderman Nico Blontrock, who said at the municipal council that sexual fantasies, gender transition and anal sex were not discussed at any point during the reading. It also reports that the event’s stated themes were tolerance, love and inclusion. On the evidence described, the protest video combined unrelated footage and suggestive claims in a way that misrepresented the Bruges event; it does not substantiate the claim that the performer told sexual fantasies or taught the children about anal sex.

El Detector / Univision NoticiasCulture & entertainment

Mickey Mouse y Minnie Mouse “son gemelos”.

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim circulated in a Facebook post in late March 2023: Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse were said to be twins, not a couple. The review says the post had been shared more than 7,000 times between March 29 and March 31, 2023. Its central counterevidence is a statement attributed to Walt Disney in a 1933 Film Pictorial article: “in his private life Mickey is married to Minnie.” The investigation describes two keyword searches: one for material about whether Mickey and Minnie are a couple or twins, and another for the 1933 Film Pictorial interview. The second search led the reviewers to an image of the article. In the quoted passage, Disney explains that the characters’ roles could vary with the story: Minnie might be Mickey’s romantic interest in a courtship plot, but they would appear as husband and wife when a story called for a married couple. He adds that the studio had decided they were married. That qualification matters: the article acknowledges that some stories may depict the pair as courting, but it does not support the post’s claim that they are twins. The review also points to a 2013 Walt Disney Family Museum webpage that used the same Film Pictorial quotation when discussing their relationship. The evidence presented therefore supports the couple interpretation, while the claim that they are twins conflicts with the historical statement the review located.

YouturnCulture & entertainment

Web Series-ஆக தயாராகிறது இசை அரசியின் வாழ்க்கை வரலாறு! தமிழ்நாட்டைச் சேர்ந்த மறைந்த புகழ்பெற்ற பாடகி ‘பாரத ரத்னா’ எம்.எஸ்.சுப்புலட்சுமியின் வாழ்க்கை வரலாறு இணைய தொடராக தயாராகிறது! திருமலை, ஆதி, சுள்ளான் படங்களை இயக்கிய ரமணா இதனை இயக்கவுள்ளார்; பிதாமகன், அழகிய தமிழ் மகன் உள்ளிட்ட படங்களின் ஒளிப்பதிவாளர் பாலசுப்ரமணியன் ஒளிப்பதிவு செய்கிறார்!

Publisher’s rating: Fake

YouturnCulture & entertainment

நாட்டு நாட்டு பாடலை பற்றி மற்றுமொரு ட்வீட். பகிராமல் இருக்க முடியவில்லை, இதுவே நாட்டு நாட்டு-வை பற்றிய கடைசி ட்வீட். உலகளாவிய பேசுபொருளாக மாறியதன் உண்மைச் சான்று, இப்பாடல் உலகத்தை தன் கையில் வைத்துள்ளது தான்.

Publisher’s rating: Fake

Factcrescendo ThailandCulture & entertainment

The photo shows one of the stones used in building the Egyptian pyramids

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim concerned a social-media photo of a large stone cube, said to be one of the roughly 2.3 million stones used to build the Great Pyramid. Factcrescendo Thailand reports that the post appeared in a Facebook group and that versions of the claim had circulated since 2022. The review’s conclusion is that the photographed stone is not from the Egyptian pyramids: it depicts a monolith at Baalbek, in modern-day Lebanon. To investigate the image’s origin, the review says it used reverse image search. It traced the photo to reporting about a massive block at a Baalbek quarry, and describes that block as estimated to weigh 1,200 tons. The review also reports that the image had been altered to remove writing on the monolith. That provenance and alteration matter: a photo of a stone at Baalbek does not establish that the stone was used in the construction of a pyramid in Egypt. The review distinguishes the pictured monolith from the actual building material of the Great Pyramid. It says the pyramid was built with limestone and granite from nearby sources, and cites a study describing about 2.3 million blocks of varying sizes and weights. Thus, the claim’s broad reference to millions of pyramid stones does not identify this particular image: the investigation’s image tracing places the pictured block at Baalbek, not at the pyramid construction site.

Fact CrescendoCulture & entertainment

Claim: Ramana chandrasekar not directing the web series on ms subbulakshmi

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

Fact Crescendo examined social-media posts claiming that director Ramana Chandrasekar was making a web series about M.S. Subbulakshmi. The review says Sun News had reported that he would direct the series, and that the claim was subsequently shared by other outlets. It also says readers had sent the claim to the fact-checkers for verification. The central evidence reported is Ramana’s own denial: he said he had not officially announced the news and asked people not to share it. That supports the review’s conclusion that the circulating report was not reliable as an announcement that he was directing the series. The excerpt does not establish who would direct the series, or whether a series was ultimately made; it focuses on Ramana’s lack of an official announcement and his request that the claim not be circulated.

YouturnCulture & entertainment

ஆண் பெண்ணுக்கு அமைத்த(கட்டிய) தாஜ்மகால் போல்,பெண் ஆணுக்காக எங்காவது நினைவு சின்னம் அமைத்திருக்கிறார்களா…??? என்றால் ஆம் தாஜ்மகாலை விட பிரமாண்டமாக பெண் ஒருத்தி தன் கணவனுக்காக நினைவிடம் அமைத்து இருக்கிறாள். குஜராத் மாநிலத்தில் பதான் பகுதியை ஆட்சி செய்து வந்த சோழங்கி பரம்பரையை சேர்ந்த பீம் தேவ். அவன் இறந்த பிறகு, அவனின் நினைவாக ராணி உதயமதி பூமிக்கு அடியில் பல மீட்டர் நீளமான பள்ளம் தோண்டி கிணற்றின் வடிவிலான பிரமாண்டமான நினைவிடம் அமைத்துள்ளார், அறிவியல் விஞ்ஞானம் வளரும் முன்னரே, பல மீட்டர் நீளமான பள்ளத்தில் எப்படி கோவில் கட்டினார், கற் தூண்கள் எல்லாம் எப்படி இறக்கி கட்டப்பட்டது என்பது வியப்பாகவே உள்ளது, இது ராணி கீ வாவ் (Raani ki vav) என்று அழைக்கப்படுகிறது. ஷாஜகானுக்கு 600 வருடங்களுக்கு முன்னே ஒரு பெண் ஆணுக்காக நினைவிடம் அதுவும் பிரமாண்ட நினைவிடத்தை அமைத்தாள். அதன் காலம் கிபி 1022.

Publisher’s rating: Mix

Factcrescendo ThailandCulture & entertainment

ก้อนหินขนาดยักษ์ในภาพเป็นก้อนหินที่ใช้สร้างพีระมิดในอียิปต์

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim attached to the viral image was that the enormous rectangular stone shown was one of the blocks used to build Egypt’s Great Pyramid. Factcrescendo Thailand reports that the image circulated with a caption describing a block among roughly 2.3 million stones used in the pyramid, and that a Facebook post sharing the claim had nearly 100 shares and 1,800 likes within a day. The review’s conclusion is that the pictured stone is not from the pyramid. To trace the image, the reviewers say they used an image-search feature. They identify its location as Baalbek, an ancient city in Lebanon, and cite a Smithsonian Magazine article about the discovery of a giant stone in a Baalbek quarry. The review describes that stone as weighing about 1,200 tonnes—far larger than the blocks described in the viral caption—and says it is unrelated to Egypt’s pyramids. The review contrasts the image’s actual location with its account of pyramid construction. It says the pyramids were built from limestone and granite quarried nearby and transported to the construction site. Citing a 2020 study of the Great Pyramid by Hemeda and Sonbol, it gives an approximate construction start of 2550 BCE and describes blocks of varying dimensions and weights: lower courses used larger blocks, while smaller ones were used higher up. These details do not make the Baalbek stone a pyramid block; they reinforce that the image’s claimed identity and location are wrong.

Fact Crescendo CambodiaCulture & entertainment

A piece of news showing the Hollywood celebrity Angelina Jolie is dead was published and shared on social media last week. This piece of news has been shared many times by Facebook users. However, after checking the Google Reverse Image search and reliable sources, the claim above proves false.

Publisher’s rating: False

The review examined a social-media story claiming that Angelina Jolie had died. It describes a Facebook post, shared by users, with the wording “Hollywood reports very sad news about Angelina Julie, she is confirmed as…” and says another site published the same claim on March 19, 2023. The investigation focused on the image accompanying the death story, rather than treating the post’s assertion as evidence that Jolie had died. Fact Crescendo Cambodia says it used Google Reverse Image search to trace a photograph matching the circulated image. It reports finding the same image on China Daily’s website, published September 7, 2004, where it did not depict Jolie. The review identifies the scene as a funeral in Beslan on September 6, 2004, for 15-year-old hostage Alana Katsanova, killed in the Beslan hostage-taking. That provenance contradicts the image’s presentation as a scene connected to Jolie’s supposed death. The review also says PolitiFact checked the same claim on March 18, 2023, and reported that Jolie was alive. On the evidence described, the viral post had repurposed an older photograph from an unrelated funeral to support a false death story; the review concludes Jolie had not passed away.

The Dispatch Fact CheckCulture & entertainment

“Justice for All,” a song by the January 6 Prison Choir and Donald Trump, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100

Publisher’s rating: False

The review distinguishes between two Billboard charts. It reports that “Justice For All,” featuring the January 6 Prison Choir and Donald Trump, reached No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart—not the Billboard Hot 100. The review explains that Digital Song Sales tracks purchases on platforms such as iTunes, while the Hot 100 also factors in streaming and radio performance. A No. 1 position on the sales chart therefore does not establish that the song topped the Hot 100. As additional evidence about the Hot 100 at the time of the review, it identifies Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” as the chart’s current No. 1 and says “Justice For All” did not appear on that chart. The review’s stated distinction between the charts, and its reported Hot 100 listing, support its conclusion that the claim confused a sales-chart achievement with the ranking on the broader Hot 100.