This photo actually shows a scene from the US comedy show Saturday Night Live

This article is more than one year old.
Published on June 23, 2020 at 10:30
2 min read
By AFP Sri Lanka

A photo has been shared hundreds of times in multiple posts on Facebook alongside a claim it shows a death row inmate in an electric chair just before he was executed. The photo has been shared in a misleading context; it actually shows a scene from the US comedy show Saturday Night Live that aired in 1977.

The photo was published here on Facebook on June 7, 2020.

The Sinhala-language text superimposed on the image translates to English as: “He asked for a pen and a paper before being executed on the electric chair

"If you saw what he wrote, you would have something to think about”.

A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post taken on June 19, 2020

Part of the Sinhala-language post translates to English as: “He asked for a pen and a leaf before his death in the electricity chair / My dear mother..., If the law was fair, by now even you should be seated next to me awaiting implementation of your death sentence. But since the law is blind, I have been declared guilty to a crime that we both are responsible for… When I was 17, with the knowledge of my mother I stole a bicycle belonging to a neighbour and sold it. But my mother never said anything even at that point because you loved me a lot. You did not correct me and that spoilt me. That is how this all began and eventually led to a life of crime that ended up with me being sentenced to death..."

The photo was also published here, here, here, here, here and here on Facebook, alongside a similar claim.

The photo has been shared in a misleading context; it actually shows a scene from the US comedy show Saturday Night Live, that aired in January 1977.

A reverse Google image search of the photo in the misleading post found the identical photo published here on Getty images’ website, titled “Saturday Night Live”.

Image published on Getty Images website.

The Getty Images photo caption states: “SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE - Episode 11 - Pictured: (lr) Mitchell Laurance as guard, Tom Schiller as Dean Slydell, Dan Aykroyd as Roy Groomis during the'TV Execution' skit on January 15, 1977 (Photo by NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)”

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading posts (L) and the Getty Images photo (R):

Screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading posts (L) and the Getty Images photo (R)

The skit featured in the image was broadcast in Season 2, Episode 11 of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Ralph Nader and George Benson. The still photograph features a convict, played by comedian Tom Schiller “going through a dress rehearsal for a televised execution”, according to US entertainment website IMDb.

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