An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows actor Ryan Reynolds wearing a shirt calling supporters of former President Donald Trump “losers.”
Verdict: False
The message has been digitally superimposed onto Reynolds’ shirt, which originally read, “Conquer COVID-19.”
Fact Check:
Reynolds, a Canadian-born actor, voted in the U.S. for the first time during the 2020 presidential election, according to a post he shared on his verified Instagram. Though Reynolds did not publicly announce who he voted for in that election, he did tell the Hollywood Reporter in a 2017 interview that Trump “doesn’t reflect [his] specific ideologies.”
Now, a viral image being shared on social media appears to show Reynolds wearing a t-shirt that reads: “Losers in 1865, Losers in 1945, Losers in 2020.” The shirt includes images of the Confederate flag, the Nazi flag and what appears to be a “Make American Great Again” hat.
The picture, however, has been digitally altered. The original photo was briefly posted to Reynolds’ Instagram story, as well as his wife Blake Lively’s story, in April 2020, according to People Magazine. In the Instagram story, Reynolds posed with Lively while wearing a black shirt that says “Conquer COVID-19.” The unaltered image can be found in articles published by People Magazine and the Daily Mail.
Conquer COVID-19 is a grassroots organization “comprised of physicians, business leaders, entrepreneurs, and other volunteers who are working together to ensure frontline workers responsible for the health and wellbeing of Canadians have access to the resources they need during the ongoing pandemic,” according to the group’s website.
Reynolds also promoted the “Conquer COVID-19” shirt in a May 2020 video he shared to his Twitter account. The month prior, Conquer COVID-19 had shared a picture of Reynolds wearing the group’s official shirt on its verified Twitter account with a caption that explained all proceeds from purchases of the shirt would be used to buy personal protective equipment for frontline workers.
This is not the first time an anti-Trump message has been photoshopped onto a shirt worn by Reynolds. In September, Check Your Fact debunked a doctored image that showed Reynolds wearing a shirt emblazoned with the phrase, “It Wasn’t Rigged You’re Just A Loser.”
via dailycaller