Fact Check: Viral image of Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson is a digitally altered copy

Hyderabad: An image of Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson purportedly on a vacation to India is being widely circulating on social media. Many fans of the actor from India are sharing the image without questioning its legitimacy.

Similar claims can be seen here, here, here and here. Click here and here to view more.

In the viral image, Scarlett Johansson is seen in a blue dress posing inside a red rickshaw beside the road during the day. The image went viral on social media in no time with users wondering if ‘The Black Widow’ has arrived in Delhi.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false as the viral image is a digitally altered copy.

We started our investigation by performing a keyword search to check for relevant media reports but could not find anything regarding Marvel star Scarlett Johansson visiting India. News as big as this would catch mainstream media attention.

Next, on performing a reverse image search, we found a similar image on an Instagram handle with the username @nilgulyoruk. The image was the same except for the face. The profile belongs to a German travel blogger and solo traveller Nilgulyoruk.

Going through her profile, we found that the Instagrammer visited India on October 10, 2023, and is the owner of the viral image’s original which could be inferred from a close comparison of both images.

The copy was taken from a set of images the traveller posted on her trip to Delhi. The other photos show her visit to the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk, Akshardham Temple and the Delhi Gate.

Although many Hollywood stars including Rihana and Dua Lipa have recently visited India, Scarlett Johansson isn’t one of them, as far as her public visits are concerned. Hence, we conclude that the buzz around Scarlett visiting India is a hoax, the viral image is digitally altered from the original.