Claim
A Twitter user @WolfRMFC claims in a photo that Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema met with the late American rapper Tupac Shakur.
Verdict
Doctored. A Yandex reverse image search reveals that the late American rapper Tupac Shakur’s original image was taken with American rappers Mc Hammer and Snoop Dog. In contrast, Karim Benzema’s original image was taken with Brazil star Neymar Jr.
Full story
An image with Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema and late American rapper Tupac Shakur has gone viral on social media, particularly Twitter. The image was posted by a Twitter user @ WolfRMFC.
The tweet says, “Benzema’s longevity is CRAZY. I can’t believe he actually met Tupac.”
The tweet has received over 70,000 likes and over 4,000 retweets. The assertion which was made on Friday, November 4, has seen users express varied opinions that cast doubts on the originality of the image. Thus DUBAWA decided to fact-check it.
Verification
According to Wikipedia, Tupac Shakur was an American rapper who died on September 13, 1996, while Karim Benzema was born on December 19, 1987. This means that Karim Benzema was ten years old when Tupac died. So, the first hint is that the photo can’t be authentic.
DUBAWA also ran a quick Yandex reverse image search to first find out where the exact photo was taken. Several images popped up, aiding DUBAWA’s analysis. We found out that the purported image started circulating on May 21, 2022, when it was published by Twitter user @GreatWhiteNueve.
However, the original photo with Tupac in a suit was found. With him were American rappers Mc Hammer and Snoop Dog. This is a second hint that the photo is doctored.
DUBAWA further conducted a detailed Google reverse image search and found the original picture with whom the Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema was taking a picture. In a news report by daily mail, a British daily news website, on Friday, June 21, 2019, the striker posed with Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar. The picture can also be seen on 90mins.com, another sports website.
We found out that Tupac’s image resurfaced online when Karim Benzema wore the exact dress Tupac wore some time ago to receive his Ballon D’or at the just-ended annual football award presented by French news magazine France Football. This was seen in a news story published by goal.com, an international association football news website, on Tuesday, October 18, 2022.
Conclusion
From the analysis, we can conclude that the viral image is doctored.
