A video of British singer Adele performing at a recent concert while holding a flag is viral online with the false claim that she was seen holding a Palestinian flag as a gesture of solidarity towards the people in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
BOOM found that the claims are false and Adele was seen holding the flag of Mexico in the viral video, not Palestine.
The recent Israel-Hamas conflict began on October 7 after the latter launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli troops while taking more than 200 hostages and killing around 1200 Israelis. This was followed by Israeli retaliatory airstrikes and invasion of the Gaza strip, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 10,000 Palestinians. As humanitarian concerns grew in Gaza, several celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Mark Ruffalo, Gigi and Bella Hadid have voiced their support for the people of Palestine calling for a ceasefire.
The video shows Adele walking through a crowd while singing and holding a flag along with other gifts given to her by fans. The video carries the text, "Adele singing when we were young holding the flag of Palestine❤️🇵🇸" and is being shared with the caption, "Adele held a Palestine flag today at her show🥺"
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
A caption on Facebook reads, "Well done Adele! Thank you for showing your support even just holding the Palestinian flag! Free Palestine 🇵🇸"
Click here to view the post.
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the viral claims are false and the actual video shows Adele holding a Mexican flag in her hands at the concert.
We found that the viral video carried the watermark of a TikTok account @_dailymedia_.
Taking a clue from this, we ran a search for the original video on TikTok using the keywords "Adele when we were young" and found a post shared by an account @adelelaurieadkins_br on October 2, 2023.
The post carried a longer version of the viral video and showed Adele handing the flag back to the concert crew. It is at this point where the flag is more clearly visible.
After closely inspecting this flag, we were able to decipher that it was the flag of Mexico, not Palestine. Below is a comparison of a screenshot from the viral video with the flags of both Mexico and Palestine
The viral video is from the 29th week of Adele's exclusive residency called 'Weekends with Adele' at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Pictures shared on Adele's official X handle from the concern can be seen here.
At the time of writing this report, we did not find any reports on Adele voicing her support for Palestine or any public comment on the issue by the singer.