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Yahoo
an hour ago
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Fact Check: Video of people fleeing tsunami wasn't taken after 2025 Russia earthquake
Claim: A video authentically showed people on a shoreline fleeing a tsunami after an earthquake off the Russian coast in July 2025. Rating: In late July 2025, following an 8.8-magnitude earthquake (archived) off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula that triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific, a video circulated on social media purportedly showing people fleeing from tsunami waves caused by the earthquake. For example, one X user shared the footage, which had been viewed more than 460,000 times as of this writing, along with the caption (archived): "Breaking : An 8.7 magnitude earthquake hits Russia which triggers Tsunami. Scary visuals as seen in this video." (X user @aalochak07) The clip appeared alongside the claim elsewhere on X with captions related to the Russian earthquake (archived, archived). However, the video was miscaptioned. The clip actually depicted the aftermath of a different tsunami that occurred in Greenland in 2017, not in Russia in 2025. The earliest version of the footage Snopes found was posted (archived) on YouTube on Sept. 8, 2017, with the title "Nuugaatsiaq tsunami Rasmus." The video was posted almost three months after a landslide triggered a tsunami that struck (archived) the west coast of Greenland and affected a small village called Nuugaatsiaq on June 17, 2017, according to the International Tsunami Information Center. It was not clear who recorded the footage posted on YouTube; however, it appeared to be real and there was nothing to indicate that it was created using artificial intelligence software. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, four people died and 11 buildings were destroyed (archived) due to the tsunami that hit Nuugaatsiaq. In 2021, Licet Studios, a video licensing company that provides rights-cleared videos for television, film and digital publishers, listed the video on its licensing platform (archived) and YouTube (archived). The video was titled, "GREENLAND TSUNAMI: Fishermen Run For Their Lives - Camera 3," and the description on the licensing platform read: Shocking video captures the impact when one of the tallest tsunamis recorded in history hits and devastates the village of Nuugaatsiaq (Greenland) in the late evening hours, causing four deaths. Subsequent tsunami waves surprised the residents when they were trying to secure their property. The YouTube caption added: "Luckily all three [people in the video] were able to escape the wave just in time." The platform said the footage was published on Sept. 8, 2017, which matched the date of the above YouTube clip. Licet's credit, Rasmus J., also matched the name in the title of the YouTube video. "Huge quake rocks Russia's Far East, triggering tsunami warnings around Pacific." Reuters, 30 July 2025, Accessed 30 July 2025. "17 June 2017, Karrat Fjord, Greenland Landslide & Tsunami." International Tsunami Information Center, IOC-UNESCO, Accessed 30 July 2025. "NCEI Global Historical Hazard Database - Tsunami Event Information." National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA, Accessed 30 July 2025. "Four people missing after possible tsunami hits remote Greenland village." The Guardian, 19 June 2017, Accessed 30 July 2025. "GREENLAND TSUNAMI: Fishermen Run For Their Lives - Camera 3." Licet Studios, 23 Mar. 2021, Accessed 30 July 2025.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Video of people fleeing tsunami wasn't taken after 2025 Russia earthquake
Claim: A video authentically showed people on a shoreline fleeing a tsunami after an earthquake off the Russian coast in July 2025. Rating: In late July 2025, following an 8.8-magnitude earthquake (archived) off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula that triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific, a video circulated on social media purportedly showing people fleeing from tsunami waves caused by the earthquake. For example, one X user shared the footage, which had been viewed more than 460,000 times as of this writing, along with the caption (archived): "Breaking : An 8.7 magnitude earthquake hits Russia which triggers Tsunami. Scary visuals as seen in this video." (X user @aalochak07) The clip appeared alongside the claim elsewhere on X with captions related to the Russian earthquake (archived, archived). However, the video was miscaptioned. The clip actually depicted the aftermath of a different tsunami that occurred in Greenland in 2017, not in Russia in 2025. The earliest version of the footage Snopes found was posted (archived) on YouTube on Sept. 8, 2017, with the title "Nuugaatsiaq tsunami Rasmus." The video was posted almost three months after a landslide triggered a tsunami that struck (archived) the west coast of Greenland and affected a small village called Nuugaatsiaq on June 17, 2017, according to the International Tsunami Information Center. It was not clear who recorded the footage posted on YouTube; however, it appeared to be real and there was nothing to indicate that it was created using artificial intelligence software. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, four people died and 11 buildings were destroyed (archived) due to the tsunami that hit Nuugaatsiaq. In 2021, Licet Studios, a video licensing company that provides rights-cleared videos for television, film and digital publishers, listed the video on its licensing platform (archived) and YouTube (archived). The video was titled, "GREENLAND TSUNAMI: Fishermen Run For Their Lives - Camera 3," and the description on the licensing platform read: Shocking video captures the impact when one of the tallest tsunamis recorded in history hits and devastates the village of Nuugaatsiaq (Greenland) in the late evening hours, causing four deaths. Subsequent tsunami waves surprised the residents when they were trying to secure their property. The YouTube caption added: "Luckily all three [people in the video] were able to escape the wave just in time." The platform said the footage was published on Sept. 8, 2017, which matched the date of the above YouTube clip. Licet's credit, Rasmus J., also matched the name in the title of the YouTube video. "Huge quake rocks Russia's Far East, triggering tsunami warnings around Pacific." Reuters, 30 July 2025, Accessed 30 July 2025. "17 June 2017, Karrat Fjord, Greenland Landslide & Tsunami." International Tsunami Information Center, IOC-UNESCO, Accessed 30 July 2025. "NCEI Global Historical Hazard Database - Tsunami Event Information." National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA, Accessed 30 July 2025. "Four people missing after possible tsunami hits remote Greenland village." The Guardian, 19 June 2017, Accessed 30 July 2025. "GREENLAND TSUNAMI: Fishermen Run For Their Lives - Camera 3." Licet Studios, 23 Mar. 2021, Accessed 30 July 2025.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fact Check: No, 'The Simpsons' didn't predict Coldplay kiss cam scandal
Claim: "The Simpsons" predicted a July 2025 scandal in which a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert allegedly caught a tech CEO cheating with the company's chief people officer. Rating: In July 2025, as the internet continued to react to "ColdplayGate," a scandal in which a tech CEO was allegedly caught cheating on a kiss cam during a Coldplay concert, claims that the long-running animated sitcom "The Simpsons" predicted the incident circulated online. Users on social media platforms like TikTok, X (archived), Instagram (archived) and Facebook (archived) spread the rumor, with some pointing to specific episodes of the show that purportedly featured likenesses of former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his alleged affair partner, Kristin Cabot, the company's chief people officer. One post (archived) sharing the claim asked, "Is there anything in this world 'The Simpsons' hasn't predicted?" Some videos on YouTube featured a voice-over allegedly explaining the details of the episode in question. Despite the popularity of the rumor, claims that "The Simpsons" predicted the events of "ColdplayGate" were false. Most versions of the rumor alleged the prediction occurred in Season 28, Episode 10, "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner." The episode aired on Jan. 4, 2015, and featured the titular family getting abducted by aliens from an amusement park. The episode was available for viewing on the streaming service Disney+. Other iterations of the claim alleged the moment occurred in an episode titled "Kiss Kiss," which did not exist (though there was a Season 17 episode called "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore"). Another episode, Season 17, Episode 22, "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play," did feature a plot point in which Marge and Homer appeared on the kiss cam at a sporting event. The episode aired on May 21, 2006, and was also available to watch on Disney+. However, a thorough viewing of the two authentic episodes in question revealed zero moments that could reasonably be classified as a prediction or a visual match for the alleged image circulating online. Rather, it was likely that the alleged screenshot and video clips that circulated were digitally manipulated, either through generative artificial intelligence or a digital editing tool like Photoshop. The AI-detection platform Hive Moderation reported a 99.9% chance the image was created using AI. (Hive Moderation) Further, Mashable Middle East reported that "The Simpsons" showrunner Al Jean told them, "We write satire, not prophecy. Any similarity is pure luck." Snopes reached out to Jean's representative for comment and they directed us to the same statement, which other outlets also reported. "The Simpsons" has become an internet darling for its apparent predictions of future events, though most of those predictions were either exaggerations or deliberate misrepresentations of events from the show. Snopes has debunked numerous claims about alleged predictions that appeared in "The Simpsons" over the years. "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play." The Simpsons, directed by Bob Anderson, Season 17, Episode 22, 21 May 200AD. Naik, Mamta. "Did the Simpsons Predict Coldplay's 'kiss Cam' Scandal? Here's the Truth." Mashable ME, 21 Jul. 2025, "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner." The Simpsons, directed by David Silverman, Season 26, Episode 10, 4 Jan. 2015. July 21, 2025: This article was updated to include a response from Al Jean's representative. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Photo allegedly shows Obama and Epstein drinking beers in Southeast Asia. You should have reservations
Claim: A photograph authentically shows former U.S. President Barack Obama drinking beer in Southeast Asia with convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein. Rating: Context: The man in the photograph with Obama is late television host and chef Anthony Bourdain. In July 2025, a photograph circulated online purportedly showing former U.S. President Barack Obama drinking beer with disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The picture was allegedly taken in a Southeast Asian country, according to numerous posts. One X user's caption read: "It was buried by the press, but not only were Obama and Jeffrey Epstein friends, they traveled around Thailand together, in search of 'the perfect spring roll'." (X user @baltic_dan) However, the photo above does not show Obama drinking a beer with Epstein. The man drinking alongside the former president is the late chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain. As such, we have rated this picture as miscaptioned. The authentic photo was taken while Bourdain was interviewing Obama in a small restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam — not Thailand — for his show "Parts Unknown" in 2016 (archived). They had a dish called bún chả while drinking beer. During the interview, Obama spoke about his past experiences in Southeast Asia, parenthood and reaching across political divides. Bourdain died by suicide in 2018. On June 8 of that year, Obama posted the above photograph of the pair drinking beer in Hanoi with the caption: "'Low plastic stool, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer.' This is how I'll remember Tony. He taught us about food — but more importantly, about its ability to bring us together. To make us a little less afraid of the unknown. We'll miss him." While Bourdain and Epstein may have had some facial similarities, it is clear that they are two different men and that Epstein was not pictured in the above photo alongside Obama. Snopes has investigated numerous claims regarding Bourdain and Obama. For example, we looked into whether the late chef said that people should have a drink with those they disagree with and whether the former president said that boys need gay mentors. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health, suicide or substance use crisis or emotional distress, reach out 24/7 to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) by dialing or texting 988 or using chat services at to connect to a trained crisis counselor. "Barack Obama & Anthony Bourdain Have Dinner | Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown." YouTube, HBO Max, 25 Nov. 2023, Accessed 29 July 2025. 'Former Obama Adviser Ben Rhodes Remembers Anthony Bourdain'. Explore Parts Unknown, 25 Oct. 2018, ' X (Formerly Twitter), Accessed 29 Jul. 2025. Ibrahim, Nur. 'Anthony Bourdain Said "Have a Drink" With People You Wouldn't Agree With?' Snopes, 3 Jul. 2024, ---. 'Examining Claim Obama Said Boys Need Gay Mentors'. Snopes, 24 Jul. 2025, Instagram. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025. Severson, Kim. "The Last, Painful Days of Anthony Bourdain." The New York Times. 27 Sep. 2022. Available at: YouTube. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
12 Super Well-Known Movie "Facts" That Everyone Has Heard, But Are Actually Very, Very False
famous "SEX" dust cloud in The Lion King was a hidden message, but it didn't say sex — it actually spells "SFX" as a subtle shoutout to the film's special effects team. The myth of the hidden word, according to Snopes, spread after rumors that a 4-year-old boy from New York or Louisiana spotted the word "S-E-X" in the dust cloud while watching The Lion King and told his mother or aunt. However, that doesn't make much sense because how could a child that young spell, make out the spelling, or understand the word? The "discovery" was likely framed as "a child saw it" to make it more alarming and to fuel outrage by someone or somebodies who wanted to criticize Disney. is a widely circulated myth that one of the Munchkin actors hanged himself on camera in The Wizard of Oz, specifically during the scene where Dorothy and the Scarecrow meet the Tin Man. In reality, what people often mistake for a hanging figure is actually a large bird — likely a crane — that was part of the set to make the forest appear more lifelike. According to Snopes, this urban legend dates back to 1989, when the film was re-released on VHS for its 50th anniversary. OK, now, if you were watching this on video in 1989, the resolution would have been, well, shit, so it would be easy to not be able to make out shadows in the background and interpret them as something else. In the 30-plus years since then, the movie has been remastered and cleaned up several times, and if you watch it today you can clearly make out that it's just an exotic bird walking in the background. Men and a Baby was not filmed in a haunted New York apartment, and there's no ghost lurking in the background of any scene. The "ghost" people often point to is actually a cardboard cutout of Ted Danson's character, which was part of a deleted storyline. The movie was filmed on a soundstage in Toronto, not in a real apartment, haunted or otherwise. Just like The Wizard of Oz, Munchkin one, this urban legend started after the film was released onto home video. The story went that a 9-year-old boy had killed himself in the apartment where the movie was filmed and that he can be seen hiding behind the curtains as the camera quickly pans across the room. But the "ghost" is actually a cardboard cutout of Ted Danson's character (which can be seen earlier in the film). There are a few theories as to how this rumor started — like how it was the studio trying to drive up VHS rentals. It could just be that, again, just like in the case of The Wizard of Oz, the low resolution of VHS tapes, and the fact that TVs were smaller in the '80s and '90s, made it hard to determine what the figure was. a common misconception that Heath Ledger stayed in character as the Joker 24/7 while filming The Dark Knight. While Ledger did immerse himself deeply in the role — notably spending weeks alone in a hotel room developing the Joker's voice, mannerisms, and personality — he did not remain in character off-camera throughout the entire shoot. Cast and crew members, including Christian Bale, have said that while Ledger took the role very seriously and delivered an unforgettable performance, he was professional, collaborative, and able to step out of character between takes, where he cracked jokes and skateboarded. The myth of him being consumed by the role (and it leading to his death) adds to the film's mystique, but in reality, Ledger approached the part with intense preparation, not constant method acting. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, the scene where Indy shoots the swordsman was not improvised because Harrison Ford was tired of doing takes of it and refused to do anymore. Ford and the actor who played the swordsman had actually trained for a much longer scene that was going to be elaborate and just be between the whip and the sword. However, Ford was combating dysentery and was not feeling well, so the night before the shoot, he approached the film's director, Steven Spielberg, about shortening the scene (as it was going to take at least two to three days to shoot) by just having Indy shoot the swordsman. Spielberg had had a similar idea, so the scene was cut down before it was even shot. DiCaprio did read for the part of Max in Hocus Pocus. However, he never turned down the role because he couldn't even accept it, as he was already committed to filming two other movies. Barry King / WireImage / Getty Images, Buena Vista Pictures / ©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection It's a bit convoluted, but he was asked to come in to read for it, with director Kenny Ortega being fully aware that he was unavailable to do the movie because he was already committed to filming What's Eating Gilbert Grape and This Boy's Life. According to Ortega, DiCaprio was brought in to read for the role because the casting people knew he would be very good and that it would inspire Ortega to find the right guy to play Max. producer of Gone With the Wind, David O. Selznick, was not fined $5,000 for including the word "damn" at the end of the movie because it violated a Motion Picture Association Production Code. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," is one of the most iconic lines in cinematic history. However, Selznick didn't have to pay a fine because he didn't violate anything. He wanted to stick to the book as much as possible, so he got special permission from the Motion Picture Association to use the words "damn" and "hell" in specific situations in the film. But, just in case he didn't get the permission, Selznick and story editor Val Lewton came up with a list of alternate lines that Rhett could say to Scarlett at the end of the movie. Max: Fury Road had a script, contrary to internet rumors that said director George Miller used only storyboards to make the film. Obviously, this is not true, because it would be impossible to make a movie like Fury Road without a script. In an Oct. 2020 email to IndieWire, Miller shut down the rumor once and for all, saying, "I'm not sure how the notion that Fury Road had no script came about. I suppose it's because of the [photo of the] room lined with storyboards. Of course, there was a script! How else could we have presented the project to a studio, cast, and crew to elicit their interest?" Jackson never demanded that Tupac Shakur get an HIV test before he kissed her for their film Poetic Justice. While this didn't happen, it does have an origin; according to the film's writer-director, the late John Singleton, it was actually a joke (not the most tasteful joke, I know) he started when they were filming. The backstory is that both he and Tupac had HUGE crushes on Jackson (who was not interested in either of them, 'cause she was secretly married at the time), and he would jokingly say, "We're gonna have to get you an AIDS test for you to kiss my actress!" as a way to one-up Tupac. The joke became a rumor even before the movie was released. Also, it's important to note that HIV/AIDS had been a known disease for over a decade-plus when the movie was filmed — it was already a known fact that you could not transmit the disease through kissing, so it doesn't even make sense. had high hopes for Jaws, and knew it would be a hit (obviously not the massive blockbuster film it would become). The movie was based on a bestselling novel, and the studio believed the thrilling concept and beachside setting would have a strong appeal for summer audiences, which is exactly why they chose to release it in the summer. At the time of its release, 1975, summer was considered a dead zone for movies, with studios typically dumping lower-priority releases during those months. In the decades since, this has led to the misconception that Universal didn't expect much from Jaws. Additionally, Universal backed the film with an aggressive marketing campaign, which was unusual for the time. The campaign included an unprecedented number of TV and radio spots, which helped build nationwide buzz. to popular belief, Cleopatra was not a box office bomb. In fact, the 1963 epic starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was the highest-grossing film of that year, earning around $57 million at the box office, which was an impressive figure for the time. The misconception largely stems from the film's behind-the-scenes chaos, production problems, and notoriously bloated budget, which ballooned to close to $44 million (roughly $460 million today with inflation), making it the most expensive movie ever made up to that point. The movie struggled to make an immediate profit due to its staggering production costs. But Cleopatra eventually recouped its budget through re-releases and international earnings. lastly, no, a disgruntled Disney employee who had just found out they were fired did not secretly draw penises on the VHS cover of The Little Mermaid — despite what you may have heard as a kid. The now infamous image, which appears to show phallic shapes hidden in the castle towers, was actually the result of an innocent mistake by a freelance artist hired to create the marketing artwork. In 1998, Snopes interviewed the artist responsible for the original Little Mermaid VHS cover to get to the bottom of the infamous "phallic castle" rumor. The artist, who had previously worked on other official promotional materials for the film — including the theatrical poster, CD artwork, and Happy Meal boxes — insisted it was purely accidental. He explained that he was rushing to finish the artwork around "four in the morning" and didn't notice anything unusual in the castle design. In fact, that exact castle illustration had already been used in the film's original poster (below) and was simply reused for the VHS cover, with only Ariel, Prince Eric, Sebastian, and Flounder being newly redrawn.
