A video shared on Facebook claims to show author and journalist Chris Hedges reciting a poem about Gaza at the 2024 Oscars.

Verdict: False

Hedges did not talk about Gaza at the Academy Awards. The video has been edited.

Fact Check:

More than 1,000 Jewish entertainers signed a letter slamming director Jonathan Glazer’s acceptance speech during the 2024 Oscars, according to Hollywood Reporter. Glazer referred to Israel’s “occupation” of Gaza during his acceptance speech, the outlet reported.

Social media users are claiming to show Hedges reciting a poem about Gaza. One user wrote, “American journalist and author Chris Hedges recites a heartbreaking poem about Gaza at the #AcademyAwards2024.”

This claim, though, is false. IF Hedges had done such a thing, media outlets would have covered it, yet none have. A keyword search also did not yield any results for the alleged reading of the poem.

Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the video was posted on YouTube with the title, “Dear Gaza, We Have Failed You.”

“This year’s ceremony was missing an important apology. Enter Indie….” reads the video description. “Indie Nile trailer animation by Tünde Vollenbroek & Iris Frankhuizen.” (RELATED: Video Claims To Show Vehicles On Fire Near Belgorod)

The video’s creator does not claim it was from the Oscars and notes that the video is lip-syncing audio from a December 2023 video showcasing Hedges as he speaks about the “Genocide in Gaza.”

“Best-selling author, foreign correspondent, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges addressed the Middle East crisis with a talk titled ‘The Genocide in Gaza’ on December 6, 2023 at The Sanctuary for Independent Media in North Troy NY,” the video description reads.

Factly also debunked this claim and noted that in a review of the entire Oscars ceremony, Hedges did not speak about Gaza.