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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

Video of singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s funeral

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a circulating video said to show the funeral of singer Sidhu Moose Wala, who had recently been killed. FACTLY concludes that the video in the post is not from his funeral, while noting that actual footage of crowds at the funeral also exists. The distinction is important: the review challenges the provenance of the particular shared video, not the existence of funeral footage. [S1: “A video is being shared widely on social media with a claim that it shows the funeral of singer Sidhu Moose Wala, who was recently killed.”; “However, there are other actual videos of the crowd at Sidhu Moose Wala’s funeral.”] To investigate, the review says it ran screenshots from the circulating video through Google Reverse Image Search. It reports finding similar videos that had been posted at least seven months earlier and were described as showing the funeral of a soldier; different posts attributed them to different soldiers. On that basis, FACTLY identifies the shared footage as old and unrelated to Moose Wala’s funeral. [S1: “When the screenshots of the video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, many similar videos were found in the search results.”; “Many of those videos were posted at least seven months ago as videos related to the funeral of a soldier (different people claimed them to be the funeral of a different soldier).”; “It is an old video. The video is not related to Sidhu Moose Wala’s funeral.”] The excerpt does not identify the soldier, give a location or date for the older footage, or detail how the actual funeral videos were verified. Its conclusion is limited to the video shared in the claim: it is not related to Moose Wala’s funeral, although the review says separate, actual funeral visuals are available. [S1: “To sum it up, the posted video is not related to the funeral of singer Sidhu Moose Wala.”]

FactCrescendo Sri LankaCulture & entertainment

Janitha Perera has become the Miss Australia for Miss Universe 2022

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim concerns Janitha Perera and the 2022 Miss Universe Australia pageant. FactCrescendo investigated social media posts that congratulated Perera and led users to assume she had won. Its review distinguishes being selected for the national finals from winning the title: it reports that Perera was chosen from South Australia to compete in the finals, which were still due to take place in September 2022. Thus, the evidence described in the review supports finalist selection, not a completed victory.

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Video showing Sidhu Moose Wala’s last interview

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post claimed that a circulating video showed Sidhu Moose Wala’s last interview. FACTLY identifies the clip as an excerpt from “Dil Diyan Gallan,” a talk show whose website dates the episode to 6 March 2021. That provenance places the footage well before Moose Wala’s death on 29 May 2022, so it cannot be his last interview. The review also points to evidence that he gave interviews much closer to his death. It says interviews were uploaded by On Air and Lok Opinion, and that Amar Ujala interviewed him two days before he was shot dead. Those examples further contradict the claim that the 2021 talk-show clip was his final interview. For its identification of the circulating footage, FACTLY reports using reverse image search on screenshots and finding the full interview on Zee5; it also notes that a portion appeared on Zee Punjabi’s official YouTube channel. The review’s conclusion rests on identifying the clip’s earlier source and date, alongside its account of later interviews.

Soch Fact CheckCulture & entertainment

A video shows Pakistani politician Rana Sanaullah’s daughter dancing

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned a video shared on Facebook on 22 May 2022 with a caption identifying the dancing woman as Rana Sanaullah’s daughter. The review says the clip was shared by Tanveer Toofan and explains that its investigation compared the woman in the viral video with Sanaullah’s daughter, Iqra Sana, in an older interview. The review states that the interview aired on Samaa TV and that the two clips show different women. The review describes two checks supporting its finding: a visual comparison and a confirmation from Maiza Hameed, a PML-N member of the National Assembly, whom it contacted. It reports that the dancing woman does not resemble Iqra Sana and that Hameed confirmed the woman in the viral video is not Sanaullah’s daughter. These findings address the identity asserted in the caption; the excerpt does not identify the dancing woman by name. The review also records the provenance and reach of the clip: it says the Facebook post had 56,000 likes, 1,200 comments and 3.1 million views, and that other users shared it. Those figures describe circulation, not independent evidence of the woman’s identity.

Vishvas NewsCulture & entertainment

सोशल मीडिया अभिनेत्री प्रियांका चोप्रा च्या नावाने एक आपत्तीजनक वक्तव्य व्हायरल होत आहे. सोशल मीडिया वर एक ग्राफिक प्लेट शेअर करून दावा करण्यात येत आहे कि प्रियांका ने भगवान शिव ला घेऊन एक आपत्तीजनक वक्तव्य केले आहे.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a social-media graphic alleging that actress Priyanka Chopra had made a controversial statement about Lord Shiva. Vishvas News examined that specific allegation and reported that it had found no reliable media report supporting it and no related post on Chopra’s social-media accounts. The review’s conclusion was that she had not made the statement: “विश्वास न्यूज च्या तपासात हा दावा खोटा निघाला. प्रियांका चोप्रा द्वारे हि आपत्तीजनक वक्तव्य केले नाही.” The review also checked the images used in the viral graphic. A reverse-image search led investigators to a thumbnail for a Movie Talkies video uploaded on June 9, 2016. According to the review, that video showed Chopra angry with photojournalists at an airport, rather than documenting the alleged statement: “हा व्हिडिओ 9 जून 2016 रोजी अपलोड करण्यात आला होता. रिपोर्टमध्ये दिलेल्या माहितीनुसार, प्रियांका चोप्रा विमानतळावर फोटो जर्नलिस्टवर चिडली होती.” For further verification, Vishvas News contacted Smita Srivastava, a Dainik Jagran journalist who covers Bollywood in Mumbai. The review reports that she said the claim was false and that Chopra had made no such statement. The available excerpt describes the search, image comparison, and journalist consultation, but does not reproduce the viral graphic’s alleged wording or provide a direct statement from Chopra addressing it.

dpaCulture & entertainment

Een lid van Eurovisiesongwinnaar Kalush Orchestra bracht een Hitlergroet op het podium in Turijn.

Publisher’s rating: De hoek van waaruit de foto is genomen is misleidend: rapper Oleh Psiuk vierde hun overwinning op het podium door te juichen naar het publiek met armgebaren, maar niet met een Hitlergroet. Dat is duidelijk door de videobeelden te herbekijken.

The claim concerned a photograph of Kalush Orchestra rapper Oleh Psiuk, identifiable by his pink bucket hat, with his back to the camera and his right arm raised. It was presented as proof that he had made a Hitler salute onstage in Turin. The review says the photograph was taken after the Eurovision result was announced and the band received the trophy, as they were leaving the stage—not during the performance itself. (S1: “De foto in kwestie werd genomen nadat de uitslag bekend werd gemaakt en Kalush Orchestra op het podium de trofee in handen kreeg. Terwijl de band het podium weer verlaat, is Psiuk te zien met zijn rechterarm in de lucht, vingers duidelijk gespreid.”) To check what the still image showed, the review examined footage from the final’s livestream. It identifies the brief scene at about 4:04:17 and describes Psiuk’s hand as extended, with his fingers spread. In the moving footage, he is waving toward the audience; the static photograph’s angle makes that gesture appear misleadingly like a salute. (S1: “De vluchtige scène is te zien in de livestream van de finale omstreeks 4:04:17. Met bewegend beeld is duidelijk te zien dat Psiuk helemaal geen Hitlergroet brengt, maar enkel met uitgestrekte hand wuift richting het publiek.”) The review also distinguishes this post-result celebration from the band’s earlier Eurovision performance. Kalush Orchestra won the contest in Turin on 14 May 2022, and Psiuk had made a separate political appeal after the performance concerning Mariupol and Ukrainian soldiers at the Azovstal factory. The review’s account of the video evidence does not support interpreting the raised-arm moment as a Hitler salute. (S1: “De Oekraïnse band Kalush Orchestra was met hun lied 'Stefania' al op voorhand topfavoriet om de Eurovisiesongfestivaltrofee te bemachtigen in Turijn op zaterdag 14 mei. En zo geschiedde: ze wonnen met overweldigende stemmen van het publiek. Na hun optreden maakte de rapper van het ensemble, Oleh Psiuk, al een politiek statement door op te roepen om Marioepol en de Oekraïense soldaten in de Azovstalfabriek te helpen.”)

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCulture & entertainment

Oleh Psjuk, Rapper der ukrainischen ESC-Gewinner Kalush Orchestra, hat den Hitlergruß gezeigt.

Publisher’s rating: Für den vermeintlichen Nazi-Gruß gibt es keinerlei Hinweise. Der Sänger jubelte in Richtung Publikum.

The allegation concerns a moment after Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin: clips circulated claiming that rapper Oleh Psjuk had made a Nazi salute while leaving the stage. The review says those clips were often cut or framed in ways that hid relevant parts of the gesture. It describes the scene as occurring shortly before the end of the broadcast, after the trophy presentation: Psjuk’s right arm is extended, but his hand is visibly spread, and the review interprets the gesture as celebrating the victory. The review points to the full broadcast as the relevant comparison, specifying that the scene can be seen at 4:04:17. It explains two ways circulating clips distorted what viewers could see. In some, the footage starts too late, showing the hand only from the side while cutting out the seconds in which the fingers are spread. In others, a longer sequence is shown but the image is reduced so much that the camera framing no longer captures the hand. Those omissions or framing choices make the brief gesture less clear than in the fuller footage. The review also separates the Psjuk allegation from a separate accusation involving Polish Eurovision presenter Ida Nowakowska, whose hand briefly appeared to form a peace sign as she announced Poland’s points. It notes that Psjuk’s post-performance appeal to help Ukraine, Mariupol and Azovstal was also used in accusations of promoting fascism, but that is distinct from whether he made the alleged gesture. The evidence described for the gesture itself is the fuller broadcast sequence and the contrast between it and the cropped or reduced clips.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaCulture & entertainment

සිරස ප්‍රවෘත්ති අංශය උපහාසාත්මක කෝණයකින් ඩෑන් ප්‍රියසාද්ව අනුකරණය කළ අවස්ථාවක් ද?

Publisher’s rating: Satire

The claim concerned an image circulating on social media that appeared to show Sirasa presenter Amara Sri Bandara reading the news with a plaster over his left eye, in a satirical imitation of Dan Priyasad. The review says the image’s implied scene was not an actual moment in a Sirasa broadcast: it describes the image as an edited version, rather than evidence that the news department staged the imitation. Supporting this distinction, the review notes that the posts had led many people to assume the scene was genuine. [S1: “සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ බොහෝ දෙනා අතර මෙම ඡායාරූප සටහන සංසරණය වී තිබුණේ මේ අයුරින්. මෙම සිදුවීම සත්‍යයක් බවට බොහෝ දෙනා උපකල්පනය කර තිබූ බවට ඉහත සටහන් සඳහා දක්වා තිබූ ප්‍රතිචාර වලින් පෙනී යනු ලබනවා.”; “අපගේ කරුණු විමර්ශනයෙන් පෙන්වා දෙනු ලබන්නේ, සිරස ප්‍රවෘත්ති අංශය විසින් එහි ප්‍රවෘත්ති නිවේදකයෙකුගේ ඇසක් පැලැස්තරයකින් වසා දමා ප්‍රවෘත්ති ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමක් සිදු කළ බවට පළ වන ඡායාරූප වල දැක්වෙන්නේ, පැලැස්තරයක් දැමූ බවට සංස්කරණය කරන ලද ඡායාරූපයක් බවයි.”] To check the image, the review says it examined Newsfirst broadcasts and could not find footage of Bandara presenting with a plaster over his eye. It then traced the image’s background to a real broadcast: a presentation by parliamentary correspondent Amara Sri Bandara during the 7 p.m. main news on May 14. The described comparison therefore separates the genuine broadcast frame from the altered image; it does not support the claim that the broadcaster actually wore the plaster on air. [S1: “අප ප්‍රථමයෙන්ම මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් විමසා බැලීම සඳහා Newsfirst ප්‍රවෘත්ති විකාශයන් වෙත අවධානය යොමු කරනු ලැබූ අතර ඉහත ඡායාරූපයේ දැක්වෙන ආකාරයේ එම නිවේදකයාගේ ඇසක පැලැස්තරයක් දමා ප්‍රවෘත්ති නිවේදනයේ යෙදෙන ආකාරයේ වීඩියෝවක් දැක ගන්නට නොලැබුණි.”; “පසුගිය මැයි 14 වන දා රාත්‍රී 07.00 ප්‍රධාන ප්‍රවෘත්ති විකාශයේදී පාර්ලිමේන්තු වාර්තාකරු අමර ශ්‍රී බණ්ඩාර විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කළ ඉදිරිපත්කිරීමක් අතර තුරදී ඉහත මුල් රූප රාමුව ඇතුළත් ඡායාරූපයක් ලබා ගෙන තිබුණේ මෙලෙසින්.”] The review places the image in the aftermath of the May 9 attack on the Galle Face protest site. It says Dan Priyasad, a media spokesperson for the Our People’s Power Party, released a video apologizing on behalf of the nation over the attack, and that he appeared to have an injury to his left eye. The review links that video to a broader set of satirical images, including the edited Sirasa image. Thus, its evidence supports a satirical social-media edit inspired by Priyasad’s video—not an actual satirical imitation performed by Sirasa’s news department. [S1: “පසුගිය 09 වන දා ගාලුමුවදොර අරගලයට එල්ල වූ ප්‍රහාරයත් සමග සමග පොදු ජන පෙරමුණට සහය පළ කළ පිරිසගේ නිවෙස් වලට ද, මහ ජනතාව විසින් අලභහානි සිදු කරනු ලැබුවා.”; “අපේ ජනබල පක්ෂයේ මාධ්‍ය ප්‍රකාශක, ඩෑන් ප්‍රියසාද් විසින් නිකුත් කළ වීඩියෝවක් සමාජ මාධ්‍ය තුළ කතාබහට ලක්වුණා.”; “මෙම උපහාසාත්මක කෝණයෙන් පළ වූ ඡායාරූපවලට සමගාමීව සිරස ප්‍රවෘත්ති අංශය විසින් ද, උපහාසාත්මක කෝණයෙන් ප්‍රවෘත්ති විකාශයක් අතරතුර ඇසට පැලැස්තරයක් දමා පුවත් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමක් සිදුකල බව ඉහත සටහන් මඟින් පෙන්වා දී තිබුණා.”; “හුදෙක් විනෝදස්වාදය සඳහා උපහාසාත්මක කෝණයෙන් සිදුකර තිබු සංස්කරනණයක් බව පැහැදිලිය.”]