In mid-August 2023, reports appeared in the media and social networks that the actor playing Perry Cox from the popular comedy series about doctors recorded an appeal to the Ukrainian president. In the video, the actor allegedly advised the politician to go to rehab. We decided to find out whether McGinley sent such an appeal to Zelensky.
Netizens drew attention to the star's alleged video message on August 16. The viral video lasts almost six minutes and is a recording of the screen of a mobile device, which allegedly shows stories from McGinley’s Instagram*. Most often, numerous publications cite one of the actor’s quotes - for example, this one: “Hey, Vladimir... Drugs have become your best friends, I understand... The only person who can take care of you is yourself.” Also often addthat after complaints from Ukrainians the artist’s account was blocked. In some posts remind, that in “Scrubs” the actor played the role of a doctor named Cox, which is slang stands for cocaine.
News reports about McGinley's appeal appeared in many Russian media, including "RIA Novosti», "Russian newspaper", Russia Today, "Pravda.ru", Ura.ru, Life, "Petersburg diary", News.ru, "Ukraine.ru", "Notebook", as well as TV channels "Constantinople", "TV Center" And 360. The video was also widely distributed on social networks: for example, in Telegram channels “Ne.Sugar"(291,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Uncle Slava"(193,000), Voblya (142,000), "Ostashko! Important"(103,000), "What happened?"(101,000), "Yakov Kedmi" (72,000), "Feed of the day" (70,000), "Truth of Russia"(68,000), TG Team Russia (48,000) and "Before everyone else. Well almost. Special operation"(11,000), on VKontakte (examples here, here And here), V "Zene"and on YouTube.
From late July to early August 2023, Verified debunked three reports that American celebrities: actors Elijah Wood And Dean Norrisand also a boxer Mike Tyson — allegedly asking Vladimir Zelensky to go to a drug treatment clinic. All three fakes followed approximately the same pattern: these were fabricated stories and/or videos from foreign agencies or publications, which were based on genuine, but sometimes cropped, videos obtained using the service Cameo, where you can order personalized messages from celebrities for money.
The next victim of the authors of such fakes was John C. McGinley. Like his colleagues, in his video the actor never says the last name of Vladimir, whom he addresses, despite the tag of the Ukrainian president’s account at the top of the frame. The actor, who uses the Russian version of the politician's name, also says that a certain Jane approached him with an order. Below is the full translation of the actor’s words.
Hello, Vladimir! Hello Vlad! Hello Vladi! It was Johnny K. Jane contacted me and said that you were going through a bad period, that over the last year booze and drugs have become your best friends. I understand, I understand. But the most important thing I can tell you about this is that the only way out of this whole situation is kindness. (At this point, a caption appears in the video with a link to the Betty Ford Medical Center, which was already mentioned in the fake stories Wooda And Norris. — Approx. ed.) This may sound counterintuitive, because now you are equating kindness with condescension. These are two different things, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm telling you to take care of yourself because that's how this agreement works. This is a very delicate situation. But now you have a bad streak, and it’s very difficult to get off these substances. And the only plan you need right now is one based on kindness and self-care. To you, Vlad, who takes care of yourself - Vlad. That's how it works. No one else will take care of you. No one else thinks they can take care of you. There is only one guy - you. Vladimir. God, take care of Vladimir. This can make it a little lonely. It's not easy.
I would like you, Jane, to find this text - I will read it, it is quite heavy. It's called "Kindness". His wrote Naomi [Shihab Nye]. I'll read it to you. Because I believe she was writing about your situation. And it is indirectly directed at you, Vlad. It's connected to you. There is a strong connection between Naomi's text and what you are going through right now. She writes (translation from the site “Poetry.ru" — Approx. ed.):
“To find out what kindness really is,
you must know the loss
feel like the future overnight
dissolves like salt in unleavened stew.
What you held tightly in your hand
counted and treasured,
all this must go away for you to know,
how space is filled with emptiness
between one kindness and another.
You drive and drive yourself, thinking that
the bus will roll forever
and passengers chewing corn and chicken,
They'll stare out the window forever.
Before knowing the fragile harshness of kindness,
you must pass where the Indian in the white poncho is
lying dead on the side of the road.
You have to understand that it could be you too
that he was also someone,
who wandered in the night with his plans
and even breathing that preserves life.
Before knowing kindness as the deepest innermost thing,
you must know sadness as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up sad.
You must talk to her while your voice
will not weave the threads of all sorrows
and you won’t see the huge size of her canvas.
And then kindness will only have meaning,
kindness will only tie your shoelaces
and will send you out to look for your daily bread,
kindness is the only thing that rises
above the crowd to call out to you:
"It's me who you're looking for"
and then he will go with you,
like a shadow or a friend.”
Kindness, Vlad. Kindness. So that you can be kind to Vlad, Vlad. And most likely it looks like this: You reach out to an institution or group that can help you channel your kindness. Because we don't have all the answers. We think they are. We think the answers can probably be found in drugs or booze. For a short time, yes, it’s possible, but it’s too slippery a slope. Kindness, Vlad. Kindness. Kindness to yourself. This is what we should strive for. I wish you good luck. They love you. You can do it.
“Checked” really couldn’t find it Instagram-McGinley’s account, however, no authoritative English-language media wrote that the actor applied to Zelensky, after which the star page blocked because of complaints. Note that there are still publications in English, but these are either posts in social networks and on entertainment websites, or unauthorized resources, referring on Russia Today. In addition, the viral video shows that the actor allegedly had 437,000 followers on Instagram, but the same story post is circulating on the Internet. At the same time, McGinley has Twitter-an account where records with an appeal to Zelensky or stories about deleting the star’s Instagram could not be found.
We contacted fan club actor, and leading Angie Quidim replied to them that McGinley never had an Instagram page, and she had never heard of an appeal to the Ukrainian president. Quidim suggested that the video with the actor could have been created using deep fake technology. This version is questionable because the video lasts more than five minutes, during which no distortion is noticeable, and McGinley's manner of speech and voice correspond to the real ones.
"Verified" went back to the Cameo site and found there page actor. Among the reviews we found two appeals, in which the actor is wearing the same T-shirt, wearing the same glasses, and the videos are recorded against the background of the same wall and from the same angle as the alleged address to Zelensky. If there were no discounts at the time of ordering this video, the McGinley fake may be the most expensive of the four known to us, since the video from him costs $475, from Elijah Wood — $340, from Dean Norris — $199, and pay nothing at all for Mike Tyson’s “appeal” didn't have to.
Our suspicions were later confirmed by McGinley himself, whose comment we received from Quidim, who contacted the actor’s press secretary. According to him, stories about Zelensky are a clear attempt to tarnish his reputation and spread false information created on the basis of a video purchased from Cameo. “I want to assure my fans, colleagues and the general public that the video being circulated is completely false and was maliciously edited to portray me in a negative light,” McGinley said. — I have always been a supporter of open dialogue and respectful attitude towards people. This video is not consistent with my values and the way I conduct myself." It is also reported that the actor's lawyers are investigating the origins and intentions behind the commissioning and distribution of the misleading video to take appropriate action.
The earliest publication with a video that we were able to find appeared in the Telegram channel “Putin on Telegram"(180,000 views), previously repeatedly noted for distributing fakes, including fake appeals from Wood, Tyson and Norris. There, a video with McGinley appeared on August 16, 2023 at 11:27 Moscow time.
*Russian authorities think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social network Instagram, is an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.
Cover photo: series promo / Kinopoisk
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