The other day, the media reported that Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio donated $10 million to Ukraine, but it is not very clear for what - either to help refugees or the army. And earlier there were similar news about actress Liya Akhedzhakova, but with a more modest amount - $10,000. We checked what is true and what is false in these stories.
News reports about the Titanic star's donation appeared in early March. For example, Ukrainian publications began to massively disseminate the story of the 7th. Headlines that DiCaprio donated $10 million to Ukraine can be found on websites "1+1", "Ukrinform", "Gordon", "News", "Elle Ukraine", APnews.com.ua And Regnum. Moreover, different publications have slightly different versions: somewhere it is written that the actor allegedly sent money to the armed forces, and somewhere - to a fund to help refugees. It was also noted that Leo was prompted to do this by family roots: allegedly his grandmother was born in Odessa. Posts about his donation can be seen at "VKontakte" And Twitter.
And at the end of February, similar messages circulated in the media and social networks about People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Liya Akhedzhakova - she allegedly sent $10,000 to the Ukrainian army, and after that announced her departure from Russia. You can read about this in "VKontakte" and on radio websites "Komsomolskaya Pravda", "Echo of the Caucasus", Obozrevatel, "Channel 24" And UNIAN.
1. Leonardo DiCaprio
From the very beginning, this whole story was alarming due to the absence of any major authoritative English-language sources. Initially, the news could be found, for example, on the Polish website Polish News (the publication has already been deleted; in turn, it referred to a Polish TV channel TVN 24), in Spanish MARCA and in Indian Hindustan Times or The Tribune. There were no public statements from the actor himself or his representatives or from the Ukrainian authorities. Some well-known publications began to write about this later, but then either deleted the publications or corrected them.
The earliest publication we found about DiCaprio and his alleged assistance to Ukraine appeared March 5 on GSA News - website of Guyana (South America). Some Ukrainian publications also referred to this site. It said that, according to Ukrainian sources, the Hollywood superstar transferred $10 million to the Ukrainian government - a donation allegedly intended to support the military, as well as for humanitarian purposes. Moreover, the website indicated that the money was transferred on May 5, 2022.
March 9 GSA News material updated, adding in the headline that DiCaprio may not have donated $10 million. The text also included an apology and an addition: CNN independent fact checker Dale Daniel reportedthat, according to sources close to DiCaprio, the actor did not make such a large donation, although he financially supported charities providing assistance to Ukraine.
On some sites meets other information: Leo did not donate money to the Ukrainian government, but to the International Visegrad Fund, which allegedly made the information public. But this is not true either, as a representative of the fund told publications Reuters, Snopes And Insider: “We know nothing and have no information that Leonardo DiCaprio donated $10 million (or £7.6 million) to Ukraine.” But they added that the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four countries (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) agreed to allocate €1 million to the fund to help Ukraine.
Most likely, someone saw a post dated March 6 about a donation on a Twitter account Visegrád 24 (post has already been deleted) and thought that this page was somehow connected with the fund, although the tweet itself did not say anything about any fund. Even on the fund’s Facebook account ridiculed this story: “Fake news comes in every shape and form these days. For example, today some media reported that the International Visegrad Foundation announced a donation to help Ukraine in the amount of $10 million from a famous American actor. Please check your sources, read reputable journalists and media outlets, and do not spread fake news.”
Although Leonardo did not send money to the Ukrainian Armed Forces or the Visegrad Foundation, he still provided assistance. Yes, according to the source Insider, Vanity Fair And People, the actor made several secret donations of undisclosed amounts to various humanitarian organizations working in Ukraine: CARE, IRC (International Rescue Committee), UNHCR (U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees) and Save the Children. This is for Snopes confirmed and Rep. DiCaprio. According to the source, the amount of $10 million is not true.
As for the Ukrainian roots of the actor, the same source of publications Insider, Vanity Fair And People denied any family ties between DiCaprio and Ukraine. The actor himself more than once called his maternal grandmother Helen Indenbirken (nee Elena Smirnova) Russian: for example, on meeting with Vladimir Putin when he was Prime Minister of Russia, and under conversation with a journalist from the Russian version of Interview magazine.
According to most sources, Indenbirken was born back in the Russian Empire in 1915, but exact information about her place of birth could not be found. After the revolution of 1917, Elena's parents emigrated to Germany, where the girl grew up. Although DiCaprio's English-language Wikipedia page states that his grandmother is Ukrainian-born, this is a change contributed only on March 9, 2022 with the following comment: “It turned out that she was born in Odessa.” However, you can also find on the Internet other versions according to which Elena was a native of Perm or the Kherson region.
Mostly not true
2. Liya Akhedzhakova
February 27 Russian and Ukrainian media reported, that in her Instagram account Liya Akhedzhakova allegedly talked about a donation to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the amount of $10,000. The post was accompanied by the following caption: “I supported the Ukrainian army with a transfer of $10,000 and I urge you to do the same! And I say again: I’m really very sorry for what happened. My chest is squeezing with the realization that both your guys and ours are dying in your country right now. Somewhere very young. And I sincerely want this to end." She then allegedly called on Vladimir Putin to withdraw troops from Ukraine and said that she had decided to leave Russia with the hope of returning someday.
But even in the afternoon of February 27, this news appeared on the social networks of the Moscow Sovremennik Theater, where the artist has been performing for many years. refuted: “In the extremely difficult situation we are all in, access to reliable information is more important than ever. In this regard, we hasten to refute the information published today on Instagram on behalf of Liya Akhedzhakova. Account @l_ahedzhakova is a fake created by an anonymous user. The information posted on this page about her intention to leave the country, as well as about donating funds to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has nothing to do with reality. Like all of us, Liya Medzhidovna wants peace to reign and nothing threatens people’s lives. Please be vigilant and do not trust unverified and unofficial sources of information.”
And in the evening of the same day with a refutation spoke and Akhedzhakova herself: “Well, how can you transfer money to the army? I can't even imagine how this can be done. Moreover... this is not the first time: I have "was" twitter, and for three years my lawyer and I, with the help of the prosecutor’s office, have just now achieved that [he] is no longer there. But the fact is that, in general, I screwed up this matter, and I don’t have the Internet, I don’t know how.” By the way, the fake Instagram account was also blocked.
Also at the beginning of March, a new video was released on Ekaterina Gordeeva’s YouTube channel with another comment from Akhedzhakova: “On Instagram (I don’t even know what that is) in the morning it broke out on my behalf, firstly, that I’ve stolen from Russia and plus I’m financing the Ukrainian army.” According to the actress, she has difficulty using her phone, so she has no time for social networks.
Image: Still from The Wolf of Wall Street
Fake
1. Did Leonardo DiCaprio have a date where he forced a girl to watch Star Wars and ran around with a lightsaber?
2. Is it true that Liya Akhedzhakova opened a Twitter account?
3. The fictional world of geek publics
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