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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

A picture of a police unit guarding a theatre screening Pathaan

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a picture said to show police guarding a theatre screening Pathaan. FACTLY reports that it traced the image to security outside Delite Cinema in Delhi during the 2018 release of Padmavat, rather than to a Pathaan screening. Its account says that the viral image was altered by replacing the Padmavat poster with one for Pathaan. The review describes its image check: a reverse image search led to news reports from 2018 with similar pictures. It also says that images of the same cinema from different angles were available, helping place the scene at Delite Cinema. The historical setting matters: the review reports that Padmavat faced opposition from Hindu right-wing groups and was released under tight security in some places. The review distinguishes that older image from Pathaan’s scheduled release on 25 January 2023. It mentions contemporary calls to boycott Pathaan and a conversation between Shah Rukh Khan and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma after Bajrang Dal activists burned posters outside theatres in Assam. Those details provide context for why the image was being shared, but the review’s image comparison is the evidence for its conclusion that the picture does not show police guarding a Pathaan screening.

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Video of PM Narendra Modi applauding Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan movie trailer

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY examined a social-media video presented as recent footage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauding Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan trailer. The post also attributed comments to Modi about politicians and stars working hard to make quality products and criticism of their work being unfair. FACTLY concluded that the clip was edited and did not show the Pathaan trailer: “The video shared in the post is an edited one.” To check whether the claimed event had been recorded, FACTLY says it searched for footage of Modi cheering the trailer and found no such video on the official social-media accounts of the Prime Minister’s Office or Modi. It then searched for the video’s origin and found similar footage in an ANI tweet dated 22 July 2019. ANI described it as showing Modi watching the live telecast of ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 launch. FACTLY reports that the original footage was from that launch, not a film trailer. The comparison of that earlier footage with the circulating clip led FACTLY to describe the latter as morphed. Its conclusion is that the video does not establish that Modi applauded Pathaan’s trailer; the footage’s identified subject is the Chandrayaan-2 launch. The later related articles supplied here concern different events and do not provide evidence about this video.

dpaCulture & entertainment

Le chanteur Hugues Aufray est décédé.

Publisher’s rating: C’est faux – le chanteur est bien en vie. Il a publié une vidéo sur son compte Instagram pour démentir la rumeur.

The claim was that French singer Hugues Aufray had died. The review says that articles and videos spreading this announcement had circulated on social media, and traces the purported announcement to a YouTube channel called “Saluant Le Nouveau Jour.” It describes the channel as one that regularly published celebrity-death announcements, including rumors about other French-speaking celebrities as well as Aufray. The review therefore identifies a specific source for the rumor rather than treating the claim as a confirmed report of a death. (S1) The review also describes why it regarded a website sharing the video as unreliable: its headline was in French, its purported biographical text was in English, and other parts of the site used Korean and Thai characters. Those details are presented as reasons to doubt that site, not as independent proof of Aufray’s status. (S1) The decisive evidence described is a video Aufray posted on his official Instagram account after the rumor spread. According to the review, he addressed the false information, said he was doing well, and said he was preparing his next tour. The review also says he urged people to stop spreading misinformation about him. This direct response addresses the same death rumor and contradicts it. (S1)

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Video showing the Pongal dinner hosted by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim was that a video showed UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosting a Pongal dinner for government officials in London. FACTLY’s investigation identifies the people and setting in the footage instead as officials in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It says a Waterloo community organization hosted the meal for local politicians, mayors, councillors and police staff as part of Pongal celebrations—not as an event hosted by Sunak. The investigation describes a reverse image search of screenshots from the video. It says this led to a post identifying the footage as being from Waterloo and linking to a video published by Tamil Culture Waterloo Region. That organization’s description identified its event as a Thai Pongal celebration involving Waterloo-region politicians, mayors, councillors, the regional chair and police chief and staff. The review also points to a video shared by Kitchener MP Tim Louis on 17 January 2023 showing officials having traditional Indian meals at the Waterloo celebrations. Separately, it reports that Sunak tweeted a Pongal greeting on 14 January, but says the reviewed post’s video was not evidence of a dinner he hosted in London. The review therefore distinguishes Sunak’s greeting from the Canadian event depicted in the footage.

YouturnCulture & entertainment

பொங்கல் இந்தியப் பண்டிகை இல்லை. ஹிந்தி பேசுபவர்களை ஒப்பிட்டால், தமிழர்கள் சிறுபான்மையினர். பொங்கல் தமிழர் பண்டிகை மட்டுமே, இந்தியப் பண்டிகை இல்லை. சிறுபான்மை மக்களின் பண்டிகைக்காக, இந்தியா முழுவதும் நடைபெறும் SBI வங்கித் தேர்வை வேறு தேதியில் வைக்க முடியாது. – மத்திய நிதியமைச்சர் நிர்மலா சீதாராமன்.

Publisher’s rating: Fake