Fake celebrity political endorsements spread over Israel-Hamas war

Viral social media posts claim to show soccer star Lionel Messi holding an Israeli flag, actor Jason Statham with a Palestinian flag on his car and model Bella Hadid giving a speech in support of Israel, but all of this content is false. Let’s look at the facts.

Quick Look

No
This is not a genuine photograph of soccer star Lionel Messi holding an Israeli flag.
No
This is not an authentic video showing a Palestinian flag on actor Jason Statham’s car.
No
This is not an authentic video of model Bella Hadid giving a speech in support of Israel.
Yes
These are fake, digitally manipulated, or out-of-context videos and images.

The Takeaway

Falsely claiming that a celebrity has endorsed a certain political opinion is a common tactic used by purveyors of disinformation attempting to disrupt or distort the cultural conversation. They manipulate an image, in the case of the Messi rumor; present media out of context, so that Statham appears to be in a viral video, when he is not; or use artificial intelligence technologies to create deepfake videos, like the one featuring Hadid. These false rumors all rely on the popularity and appeal of celebrities to influence public opinion.

Getting in the habit of examining sources — both the account sharing a rumor as well as the origins of the post — is a good way to determine whether something spreading on social media is authentic. And remember, breaking news and current events are ripe for exploitation.

The 5 Factors

We’ve determined that this viral rumor is misleading or false based on its failure to pass the following credibility factors. Please note that these factors do not represent degrees of falsehood. A post that fails a single factor is generally just as false as a post that fails all five.

Snapshot

Authenticity
Source
Evidence
Context
Reasoning

Authenticity

Is it authentic?

No.

These are not authentic videos or photographs of celebrities voicing support for Israel or Palestine.

Source

Has it been posted or confirmed by a credible source?

No.

These videos and photographs were not shared by the celebrities on their official social media accounts or reported by standards-based media outlets. They were widely spread by partisan and engagement bait accounts.

Evidence