Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
(The article was originally published in Newschecker Hindi by Saurabh Pandey)
Claim
The newly appointed Prime Minister of the UK, Rishi Sunak, is seen dancing at a beach party.
Fact
We conducted Google reverse image searches on the keyframes of the viral video which led us to a report by Daily Mail, dated January 24, 2022, titled ‘Raving Rishi living his best life when Boris gets fired’: Video of Chancellor’s doppelgänger throwing shapes in Wayne Lineker’s Ibiza club sets social media on fire’
Displaying visuals from the viral video, the report elaborated, “A video of a Rishi Sunak doppelgänger dancing at Wayne Lineker’s Ibiza club has set social media alight. The footage shows a man, who has since been dubbed ‘Raving Rishi’, cutting shapes at a sunny party surrounded by hundreds of party-goers.”
It added, “It is unclear when the video was taken or the identity of Mr Sunak’s lookalike, but the footage appears to have been taken at Mr Lineker’s O Beach Ibiza club on the Spanish party island.”
The video clip was reportedly posted on Wayne Lineker’s Instagram page – the owner of the beach club in Ibiza.
A report by Daily Star, dated January 24, 2022, corroborated with the details of the Daily Mail article, while calling the man “a very convincing doppelganger” of Sunak.
Another report by Ladbible, dated January 24, 2022, also identified the man seen partying in the viral footage as Rishi Sunak’s look alike.
Spanish news outlets ABC.es and Diario de Ibiza also recognised the man in the viral clip as a facsimile of the newly appointed Prime Minister of the UK.
Wayne Lineker shared the video on his Instagram account on July 9, 2022 in a tongue-in-cheek post.
Notably, Lineker had earlier shared the same video on July 12, 2019. However, he hadn’t linked it to Sunak back then.
We could thus conclude that the man seen dancing and partying in the viral video is not the current UK PM Rishi Sunak, but his doppelganger.
Result: False
Sources
Report By Daily Mail, Dated January 24, 2022
Report By Ladbible, Dated January 24, 2022
Instagram Account Of Wayne Lineker
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
