Category Substance abuse

No, Elijah Wood did not urge Volodymyr Zelensky to seek treatment for alleged addictions

A video has been circulating online that allegedly shows "Lord of the Rings" actor Elijah Wood giving the Ukrainian president advice on how to tackle his alleged drug and alcohol addictions. He can be seen recording himself and talking to a so-called "Vladimir". However, the video has been heavily edited and his agent has confirmed it was not published by the actor.

July 25, 2023
Coordinated disinformation Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Narratives Substance abuse Ukraine

Did Elijah Wood Tell Zelensky via Instagram to Go to Rehab?

Apart from the fact that the video has been bizarrely edited, it does not mention Zelensky, only someone named Vladimir, and is attributed to an Instagram account with no web presence. Elijah Wood does not have a public Instagram account and the video being shared of him online, allegedly asking Zelensky to seek treatment, is the only recording available. The video appears to have been spread as a Russian propaganda effort and to promote a dubious documentary that falsely credits Tom Cruise as its star. Although Newsweek is yet to hear from Wood's representatives for comment, we are confident that the video and claims surrounding it are, respectively, inauthentic and false.

9 Doctored Pics and Deepfakes of Volodymyr Zelenskyy | Snopes.com

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been the subject of numerous false rumors, particularly in the form of doctored or misleading photographs and video footage. From a manipulated deepfake video of Zelenskyy supposedly telling Ukrainian soldiers to surrender to Russia to false claims he displayed Nazi logos on his clothes, there is no shortage of examples.

Five fact-checks about the war in Ukraine

Russia's invasion of Ukraine this year kept our fact-checkers very busy. We wrote 92 articles debunking false claims about information related to the war. These ranged from claims the Bucha massacre was staged to false TV reports and accusations of Nazism among Ukrainians. To mark the end of the year, we made a list of some of our top fact-checks about Ukraine.

Three claims accuse Volodymyr Zelensky of being addicted to cocaine

In recent weeks, people have been sharing at least three videos purporting to show Ukrainian PresidentÂ Volodymyr Zelensky either using cocaine or making incoherent remarks after allegedly consuming drugs. But these videos have been cut misleadingly andÂ sometimes even digitally manipulated.

Viral videos falsely claiming Ukraine’s Zelenskyy uses cocaine are altered

Two viral videos purported to show that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy uses cocaine. One video appeared to show cocaine on Zelenskyy's desk as he spoke, while the other appeared to show him saying that he uses the drug routinely. The first video was doctored; in the original, there is no white substance on Zelenskyy's desk. The second video was deceptively edited; in the original, he denied using drugs. Our ruling Two videos claimed to show Zelenskyy either using or admitting to using cocaine. The first video purports to show a white powder on Zelenskyy's desk as he placed a video call to Musk. But the video was doctored to include the substance, which is not in the original. The second video appears to show Zelenskyy talking about using cocaine regularly, but the video was deceptively edited to reorder Zelenskyy's words. In reality, Zelenskyy denied using drugs. We rate these videos Pants on Fire!