A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:
Altered photo fuels false claims that Oscars slap was staged
CLAIM: A photo shows comedian Chris Rock wearing a pad on his cheek during the incident at the Oscars where Will Smith slapped him.
THE FACTS: Rock was not wearing a pad on his face when he was hit. The photo, which was originally published by Reuters, was manipulated to make it seem as if Rock was wearing a pad on his left cheek. The altered photo circulated widely online following the confrontation at Sunday’s 94th Academy Awards, with claims it showed the incident was staged. One Facebook user who shared the altered photo wrote: “Definitely staged, But why ?? Bro gotta whole face pad on his face!!” The original photo was taken for Reuters, Heather Carpenter, a spokesperson for the news agency, confirmed in an email to The Associated Press. An AP review of the original photo and the altered version shows that it has been manipulated. It appears that natural wrinkles on Rock’s face were changed to make it seem as if he was wearing some sort of skin-colored material on his left cheek. Additionally, AP photos of the incident clearly show that Rock was not wearing a pad on his face. Smith walked onstage during the ceremony, slapped Rock, then returned to his seat and yelled expletives at...
Turkish base fake news in Armenia For several days, a video has been circulating on social media claiming that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan allegedly signed a “secret agreement” with EU ...