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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

Recent picture of Aamir Khan performing aarti after the failure of his recently released film Laal Singh Chaddha

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a photo presented as a recent image of Aamir Khan performing aarti after the box-office failure of Laal Singh Chaddha. FACTLY says the image instead dates to September 2017, when Khan attended Navratri celebrations in Vadodara, Gujarat, during promotions for Secret Superstar. That places the pictured event years before the film named in the claim. [S1: “The photo shared in the post was taken in September 2017, when Aamir Khan attended Navratri festival celebrations in Vadodara, Gujarat.”] To investigate the photo’s history, FACTLY reports conducting a reverse image search. It found a similar image in a Pinkvilla article that described Khan performing aarti at Vadodara’s Navratri celebrations. FACTLY connects his attendance there to Secret Superstar promotions, rather than to Laal Singh Chaddha. [S1: “On reverse image search of the photo, a similar photo was found in an article published by the ‘Pinkvilla’ entertainment news website on 26 September 2017.”] [S1: “As part of the promotions his film ‘Secret Superstar’, Aamir Khan reportedly attended the Navratri festival in Vadodara and performed aarti to the god.”] The review’s conclusion rests on the mismatch between the photo’s documented 2017 setting and the later film-related caption: it says the image “is old and has nothing to do with” Laal Singh Chaddha. The evidence described identifies the pictured occasion, not a post-film prayer event. [S1: “The photo shared in the post is old and has nothing to do with his recently released film Laal Singh Chaddha.”]

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Taapsee Pannu’s picture at the Siddhivinayak temple after her film Dobaaraa was unsuccessful at the box office

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The post presented a picture of Taapsee Pannu at Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak temple as a recent visit following the poor box-office performance of her film Dobaaraa. The review identifies the image as an older one: it says the photo was taken in October 2019, when Pannu visited the temple with her parents, ahead of the release of Saand Ki Ankh. The visit was described as seeking blessings for that film, not as a response to Dobaaraa’s performance. The review says it used reverse image search to investigate the picture. It found similar images in a Mid-Day article dated 26 October 2019, whose caption identified Pannu with her father, Dilmohan Singh Pannu, and mother, Nirmaljeet, at Siddhivinayak Temple in Prabhadevi. The review also notes that other outlets published reports or videos about the family’s temple visit in 2019. The chronology undermines the post’s implied connection: the review states that Dobaaraa was released on 19 August 2022, nearly three years after the temple photo was captured. Although the review reports that Dobaaraa had a poor opening weekend, it says the old image had nothing to do with that film. The evidence therefore supports the conclusion that the image was misleadingly recirculated as a recent visit.

dpa FaktencheckCulture & entertainment

Das ZDF zwingt Andrea Kiewel zum Gendern

Publisher’s rating: Kiewel und das ZDF widersprechen, dass es Druck zum Gendern gebe. Die Moderatorin hat zudem in der Sendung durchaus das generische Maskulinum genutzt. Es gibt kein Indiz für den angeblichen «Druck».

The allegation arose after Andrea Kiewel used “Singer-Songwriter*innen” during the ZDF Fernsehgarten broadcast on 14 August 2022, then turned to a nearby audience member and said, “Nicht das Gesicht verziehen, ich muss.” The dpa review examined whether this exchange showed that the broadcaster required her to use gender-inclusive wording. It notes that the clip circulated widely, while some versions omitted other parts of the same programme. Kiewel told Bild after the show: “Niemand, nicht das ZDF und sonst auch niemand, sagt mir, dass ich gendern muss” and “Ich will es. Ich muss es nicht.” The ZDF also relayed the relevant editorial team’s response to dpa: “Es gibt definitiv keine Anweisung zum Gendern im ‘ZDF-Fernsehgarten’.” The review therefore reports denials from both the presenter and the broadcaster, rather than treating her brief “ich muss” as proof of an instruction. The review adds that Kiewel used generic masculine forms elsewhere in the broadcast, citing her references to “Einwohner,” “Zuschauer” and “Besucher.” It concludes that the cited exchange and the rest of the programme provide no indication that the ZDF expected or compelled its presenters to use gender-inclusive forms. The excerpt does not describe an independent review of internal ZDF policies; its account rests on the broadcast examples and the statements reported from Kiewel and the broadcaster.

dpa FaktencheckCulture & entertainment

Hitler und Braun waren 1939 auf dem Cover der Vogue zu sehen.

Publisher’s rating: Das Foto von Hitler und Braun ist nicht in der «Vogue» erschienen. Das bestätigte der Verlag. Zudem scheint das Bild bereits vor Jahren manipuliert worden zu sein.

The claim arose from a Facebook image pairing a Vogue photograph of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, with an image of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun. The layout suggested that Vogue had also published the Hitler-and-Braun image in 1939. The review identifies the juxtaposition as a way to imply a connection between Zelenskyy and Nazi Germany. It distinguishes the authentic Zelenskyy photograph from the disputed image: the former appeared in a digital Vogue cover story in July 2022.

Fact CrescendoCulture & entertainment

Claim: 75வது சுதந்திர தினம்: வெளிநாடுகளில் மூவர்ணக் கொடி காட்சிப்படுத்தப்பட்டது என்று பரவும் படங்கள் உண்மையா? I edited pictures being shared as entire world celebrated indian freedom day eve

Publisher’s rating: Fact Crescendo தமிழ் Rating: FALSE

The claim concerned social-media images said to show famous landmarks—including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, Kuala Lumpur’s twin towers, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Rome’s Colosseum—lit in India’s tricolour for the country’s 75th Independence Day. The review notes that the images were shared with a caption saying landmarks around the world were displaying the Indian flag. It also distinguishes the broader fact that some attractions, such as the Burj Khalifa, have displayed the flag on Indian national holidays from the specific images under investigation. [S1]

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Photos of monuments in various counties with Indian tricolour on the occasion of 75 years of Indian Independence

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The post presented photos of monuments in different countries as showing them illuminated in the Indian tricolour for India’s 75th Independence anniversary. The investigation found that most of the photos did not document that event: they were edited images first posted by FilterCopy in 2017. The review notes that the images had been shared in the context of India completing 75 years of Independence, but says the posted photos were not connected to actual anniversary illuminations abroad. To trace the images, the investigators used Google Reverse Image Search. They found most of them in FilterCopy’s 2017 post, which described what famous buildings would look like if lit in the Indian colours; each image also carried a disclaimer that it was edited. The review further reports that a couple of images were real but old, rather than evidence of the anniversary event. The review distinguishes those circulating images from genuine celebrations: it says monuments in countries including Australia and Canada were lit in the tricolour for the anniversary, but that the photos in the post were unrelated to those events. Its conclusion therefore concerns the provenance and relevance of the specific shared photos, not whether any overseas monuments were illuminated.

Fact CrescendoCulture & entertainment

Claim: அருவியில் மூவர்ணக் கொடி; கொண்டாடும் மக்கள்- இந்த வீடியோ எப்போது எடுக்கப்பட்டது தெரியுமா? I 2020 dated video being shared now with 75th independence day

Publisher’s rating: Fact Crescendo தமிழ் Rating: Missing Context

The video was shared with the claim that people had colored a waterfall in India’s tricolor while celebrating the country’s 75th Independence Day. The review says the Facebook page Galatta Media posted it on August 7, 2022, and that the accompanying caption presented the scene as a 75th-anniversary celebration. The key question investigated was not whether the video showed colored water, but whether it had been filmed during that 2022 celebration. To check the date, the reviewers converted frames from the video into still images and searched for them using reverse image search. They report finding a video posted on August 16, 2020, describing people at a waterfall in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, mixing pink and green colors at its top. The waterfall’s white water, together with those colors, made it appear in the tricolor. The review then says it searched Google using terms including Jodhpur, tricolor, national flag, and waterfall, and found reports from 2020. On that evidence, the review concludes that the footage was recorded in 2020, not during India’s 75th Independence Day celebrations in 2022. The misleading element was therefore the date attached to an older video: the review does not say the footage itself was fabricated.