FACT CHECK: No, Obama Did Not Pose In Front Of Satanic Artwork
An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows former President Barack Obama pointing at seemingly satanic-themed artwork in a gallery.
Verdict: False
The image was digitally altered to include Obama. The owner of the gallery confirmed it was photoshopped.
Fact Check:
The post, which has garnered over 300 reactions, appears to show Obama in an art gallery pointing towards a piece on the wall. The artwork features a pentagram alongside the main characters of the show “Beavis and Butt-Head” and the phrase “Cornholio.”
The picture has been digitally altered to include the former president. A reverse image search revealed the image of Obama pointing originally stems from a photo shared on Olympic runner Usain Bolt’s Instagram in 2015. Obama and Bolt can be seen standing side-by-side and pointing together in Bolt’s signature pose. The two were standing in front of a blank wall.
The altered photo was first shared by a Texas-based art gallery, Guzu Gallery, on Facebook in March 2016. The gallery’s watermark can be seen in the bottom-right corner. (RELATED: Did Barack Obama Pose With A ‘420’ Sign?)
“The Prez[sic] always visits his favorite store when he’s in town,” reads the caption of the gallery’s post. “It turns out he’s an OG Beavis & Butthead fan.”
Guzu Gallery Director Vincent X. Torres confirmed to Fox 5 News in 2016 that the photo shared on the gallery’s Facebook account is fake and said the image was created to promote his “Half-Human” art print series. Torres directed Check Your Fact towards a comment he left on the recent Facebook post, admitting that the image had been photoshopped.
“Six years ago, when this was posted, it was never intended to deceive — everything about this is dumb (especially that god-awful Beavis & Butthead poster),” Torres said, adding that he would “think twice” about posting the image in “today’s intellectually retrograde milieu.”
“To the person who said the shadow is too realistic to be fake, thanks for the compliment,” Torres added.