Images of Dwayne Johnson, a former professional wrestler and Hollywood actor better known by his ring name “The Rock,” have gone viral on social media. He is seen praying inside a temple while costumed as a Hindu priest. According to several social media users who posted the image, the actor allegedly did an “Aarti” as per Hindu religious customs.
One such image of Dwayne Johnson was posted on Twitter by Gopal Goswami, who describes himself as a columnist and “ideator” at Surat Literary Foundation. The tweet received over a million views when this piece was written.
Here is the tweet:
Famous heavyweight wrestler and Hollywood actor, Mr. Dwayne Johnson, popularly known as "The Rock" performing Aarti Hindu traditions. pic.twitter.com/xxw6Mpuobc
— Gopal Goswami (@igopalgoswami) May 27, 2023
Another Twitter user, Riniti Chatterjee Pandey, shared the image of Dwayne Johnson with the caption:” सनातन ही सत्य है”. The tweet has over 4,60,000 views at the moment.
सनातन ही सत्य है pic.twitter.com/Ct4cgZWetp
— Riniti Chatterjee Pandey (@mainRiniti) May 26, 2023
A Twitter handle named @SaffronJivi shared a gallery of three similar images with the same claim. The tweet has nearly 6,00,000 views.
Hindu Hriday Samrat : Dwayne Johnson 🚩 pic.twitter.com/6q8klmY3GU
— Deepti 🇮🇳 (@SaffronJivi) May 26, 2023
Fact Check:
We identified multiple discrepancies in these photos via careful examination. We started by looking at a picture of Dwayne Johnson that he posted on Instagram on March 25, 2023. He has intricate tattoos on his chest and arms. His left arm has a tattoo that extends all the way to his neck.
Image Source: Alt News
Only one of the viral photographs featured an arm tattoo, but it didn’t seem to be the same or extend to the neck. As shown below, the tattoos are entirely absent from the other pictures:
Image Source: Alt News
A few traits frequently seen in AI-generated graphics are also present in these viral photos. For example, the backdrop in this image needs to be more consistent and has a bokeh-like appearance that makes it difficult to see background features. The creator performs This intentional modification while generating these images because current AI models frequently find it difficult to create hyper-realistic backgrounds with correct details.
An Ahmedabad-based photographer named Bhargav Valera was mentioned in one of the trending tweets and claimed credit for creating these photographs using artificial intelligence.
This beutiful potrait is made with the help of AI by @bhargav_valera , thanks for sharing
— Gopal Goswami (@igopalgoswami) May 28, 2023
Fact news website Alt News contacted Valera. He acknowledged that he was the author of the photographs. Therefore, the online photographs depicting Hollywood actor and wrestler Dwayne Johnson, aka “The Rock”, as a Hindu priest inside a temple offering prayers are fake. An Ahmedabad-based photographer used artificial intelligence to produce these.
