Video of actress in Bowie T-shirt falsely shared as Pakistan ex-PM Khan endorsement

Published on November 27, 2024 at 09:22
3 min read
By Rimal FARRUKH, AFP Pakistan

Misinformation has swirled around Pakistan's ex-leader Imran Khan since he was thrown from power and jailed, including false claims about celebrities supporting him. In the latest case, a video purportedly showing a US news anchor wearing an Imran Khan T-shirt was spread online by supporters of his party. A closer look at the footage reveals it shows "13 Reasons Why" star Katherine Langford sporting a T-shirt emblazoned with the face of British pop icon David Bowie.

"American anchor is Murshid's fan mashallah (God be praised)," read an Urdu language X post from November 2.

The post referred to Khan as "Murshid," meaning spiritual guide, a nickname given to the former international cricketing star and ex-prime minister by his supporters.

"The work that set Hafiz on fire will continue," it added, referring to army chief General Syed Asim Munir, whom Khan has criticised -- apparently suggesting that support for Khan would continue, much to Munir's displeasure.

The video shows a woman in a T-shirt and a jacket, with text overlay saying Imran Khan and a blue hand emoji pointing to her shirt.

Screenshot of the false post. Taken by AFP on November 22, 2024.

The video spread across a string of pro-Khan accounts on X, including here and here, racking up more than 6,000 views.

Khan served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, when he was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote after falling out with the king-making military establishment (archived link).

As opposition leader, 72-year-old Khan led an unprecedented campaign of defiance, with street protests from supporters boiling over into unrest that the government cited as the reason for a crackdown (archived link).

His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won more seats than any other party in this year's election but a coalition of parties considered more pliable to military influence shut them out of power.

Khan has been jailed since August 2023, sidelined by dozens of legal cases he claims were confected to prevent his comeback in elections this year marred by rigging allegations.

Bowie shirt

A reverse image search on Google found the original video, whose caption says it shows Australian actress Katherine Langford, who stars in the hit Netflix series "13 Reasons Why".

"Katherine Langford arriving to Jimmy Kimmel Live in Hollywood", reads the title of the video published by Getty Images on June 12, 2018 (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison between the video shared in false posts (left) and Getty's video (right).

Screenshot comparison between the video shared in false posts (left) and Getty's video (right)

A closer look at Langford's T-shirt in Getty's video and in the official Jimmy Kimmel Live YouTube video shows an image of pop icon David Bowie in a fiery red mullet, or his on-stage persona Ziggy Stardust.

Japanese letters for "Bowie" can also be seen on her shirt in the YouTube video, which was posted on June 13, 2018.

A screenshot of actress Katherine Langford on Jimmy Kimmel Live, June, 2018.

AFP has previously debunked false claims about celebrities endorsing Imran Khan, including Donald Trump and Bill Gates.

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