Social media users share altered image of Indian PM Modi with Rihanna

This article is more than one year old.
Published on June 29, 2023 at 05:23
3 min read
By Uzair RIZVI, AFP India

Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the United States in June 2023, social media users have repeatedly shared a doctored image purportedly showing him sitting next to Barbadian singer and businesswoman Rihanna. AFP found the image combines photos of the two from different past events. There are no photos or records of the Indian leader meeting the celebrity.

"Modi ji with Rihanna," reads the tweet shared here on June 21, 2023.

The Indian leader arrived in the United States for a state visit on June 22 (archived link).

Screenshot of the misleading post taken on June 27, 2023.

The same image was shared elsewhere on Twitter here and here; and on Facebook here.

Comments on the posts suggest some users believed the image was genuine.

"Can't take his eyes off her," read one comment.

Another said: "Classic example of a peeping Tom."

However, the photo has been altered and shows two different and old images of Modi and Rihanna stitched together.

A Google reverse image search found the original photo of Rihanna uploaded here on the website of photo news agency Getty Images in 2017 (archived link).

"Rihanna receives the 2017 Harvard University Humanitarian of the Year Award at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre on February 28, 2017, in Cambridge, Massachusetts," reads the caption.

Rihanna was honoured by Harvard University Foundation on February 28, 2017. Other photos of Rihanna in the same outfit from that event can be seen here (archived links here and here).

Below is a screenshot comparison of Rihanna's image in the misleading post (left) and the original Getty Images photo (right):

Screenshot comparison of Rihanna’s image in misleading post (left) and Getty Images (right)

Photos of the singer from June 2023, when the fabricated image was supposedly taken, also show she is pregnant.

The image of Modi appears to have been taken during a political event in Delhi in 2019.

AFP found a similar photo of the Indian prime minister here, taken by a photographer with Indian daily Hindustan Times (archived link).

Modi can be seen wearing the same clothes, waistcoat and pocket square, sitting in front of a similar backdrop.

Below is a screenshot comparison of Modi's image in the misleading post (left) and the Hindustan Times photo (right).

Modi is seen in the same outfit in a live broadcast of the event on his Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) official YouTube on April 19, 2019 (archived link).

The Indian prime minister's official website posted updates of his meetings during his visit to the United States and shows he met US President Joe Biden, other US officials, tech executives and members of the Indian community in America. It does not mention a meeting with Rihanna (archived link).

The White House also hosted a dinner in honour of Modi that invited politicians, CEOs and entrepreneurs, but did not include Rihanna (archived link).

There are no official reports or records of Modi meeting Rihanna.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail