This article is part of The Globe’s initiative to cover dis- and misinformation. E-mail us to share tips or feedback at disinfodesk@globeandmail.com.
Wildfires in the Los Angeles area this week have killed at least five people and destroyed thousands of homes.
The fires have been a focal point for a range of claims, some true, others false or misleading. We’ll examine three prominent ones.
The Hollywood sign has not burned
A video posted multiple times to TikTok and images posted to X of the iconic Hollywood sign on fire are fake.
Photographs shot by the Associated Press on Jan. 9 show the sign to be intact with no evidence of fire damage.
Screenshot of a photograph in the Associated Press media library of the Hollywood sign intact and undamaged by fire on Jan. 9.The Associated Press
At least two of the faked images posted to X bear the watermark in the lower right corner of Grok, an AI chatbot and image generator accessible via X.
Annotated screenshot of an image with a Grok watermark in the lower right corner posted to X on January 9. Grok is an AI chatbot and image generator.
List of affected celebrities includes deceased
Posted on X and viewed more than 1.8-million times, a “list of celebrities known to live in Pacific Palisades” has 27 names on it, including Tom Hanks, Reese Witherspoon and Steven Spielberg.
The list also names Matthew Perry and Bob Saget. Mr. Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023 and Mr. Saget on Jan. 9, 2022.
Accompanying the post is an image of several identifiable celebrities which an AI detector indicated with more than 99 per cent confidence was AI-generated.
Screenshot of an image posted to X on Jan. 8 with the assessment of an AI detector that evaluated the image as fake.
Yes, Joe Rogan did talk about a wildfire scenario
Videos posted to X combine a video clip of a Joe Rogan podcast in a split-screen with news footage of the Los Angeles fires. In the video, Mr. Rogan describes a severe fire scenario hitting Los Angeles.
Mr. Rogan did make these comments around one hour and 41 minutes into his podcast’s episode from July 19, 2024. In talking about evacuating due to past fires while living in California, he cites a conversation with an unnamed firefighter who shared a scenario where strong winds and dry conditions could lead to unstoppable fires sweeping across the city.
His description of the fire scenario lasts about 45 seconds in a wide-ranging podcast that is over two-and-a-half hours long. Other topics in the episode with Mr. Rogan’s guest, comedian Sam Morril, included discussing conspiracies around the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, the JFK assassination, back pain, exercise, drinking, sports, the Unabomber and fellow comedians.