For several years now, a photograph has been circulating on social networks, allegedly showing two friends - a Canadian actor and an American rapper. We have verified the authenticity of this viral image.
In RuNet, a joint photograph of Jim Carrey and Tupac Shakur became popular in 2022. It is often used in publications dedicated to the friendship of these two celebrities and dedicated to significant dates - for example, January 17 (day birth Kerry) or September 13 (anniversary death Shakura). The photo was most widely circulated on VKontakte. Thus, the public “New School 18+” with 1.8 million subscribers posted this photo three times: in 2022, 2023 And 2024 year, at the time of writing this analysis, the posts received a total of 386,000 views. Similar entries appeared in the Rhymes and Punch communities (twice: 675,000 And 275,000 views), "Oatmeal, sir!"(123,000), "TFTO" (twice: 76,000 And 29,000), as well as in many smaller publics (examples here, here, here, here And here). In addition, the picture is found in Telegram channels, including “Rhymes and punches" (200,000 views) and "Kinobot | Movies | TV series 2024» (24,000), on Instagram* (one of posts received almost 2000 likes) and on entertainment websites. In similar English-language posts sometimes indicatedthat the photo was taken in 1995.
Most of the publications mentioned above report that Carrey was Shakur's favorite actor. This information is confirmed, for example, by the bodyguard of hip-hop artist Frank Alexander. “He adored Jim Carrey, constantly imitated this motherfucker - he was definitely Puck's favorite. <…> We had dinner and watched "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." Puck couldn't get enough of Jim Carrey and his impersonations were spot on." wrote Alexander in his book Got Your Back: Protecting Tupac in the World of Gangsta Rap. According to the authors of many posts, when in 1995 Shakur sat in prison on sexual assault charges, he allegedly received letters from Kerry. This story is long ago walks on the Internet, but has no reliable evidence. For example, that the comedian sent humorous letters to Shakur, wrote investigative journalist Ben Westhoff in the book Original Gangstas, but didn't bring no evidence. In 2017, the author of the Letters of Note portal said that asked comedian about that correspondence, but to no avail: “A few years ago I wrote to Jim Carrey to ask him about the letters he and Tupac Shakur sent to each other. No answer. Sad".
It is not known for certain whether the stars knew each other in person. It is believed that they could have met in 1992 or 1993 year on the set of a sketch show "In living color"- Kerry was in the main troupe, and Shakur came as a celebrity guest. The comedian can even be seen during the musical speeches rapper at the end of one of the episodes, but “Verified” did not find any exact confirmation of their close personal communication.
As for the viral photo, in the English-speaking segment of the Internet it spread even wider than in Runet, so it is turned Attention fact checkers from the Snopes project. Using a reverse search using a viral image in the service TinEye they found a very similar one photograph, where it is not Kerry who is depicted together with Shakur, but another Hollywood actor, Mickey Rourke.
On the photo agency website Getty Images several similar ones available pictures, in which Shakur and Rourke are dressed identically to the viral photo. According to description, rapper and actor are photographed at a charity auction that took place on November 12, 1994 in New York. It is not surprising that the stars came to the event together - at that time they were just finishing filming film "Bullet", where they played the main roles.
Photos taken that same evening different years published Shakur’s verified account on Facebook, which is updated by representatives of the rapper who died in 1996. In these photographs, next to Shakur is also Rourke. And the actor himself shared with a similar photo on my Instagram. “It brings back such wonderful memories. <…> All the nights we hung out together were wild, a little crazy and most importantly with my best friend who I will always love and miss. I love you always, brother, see you in the next world,” Rourke wrote.
"Verified" found and portrait Kerry, which was used to create the fake. Judging by the comedian's hairstyle and outfit, the original photo was made January 25, 1994 in Los Angeles at the premiere of the film "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective"
There is another (less popular) joint snapshot Kerry and Shakur, allegedly sitting at the same table with musician Kurt Cobain and actress Liv Tyler. “This image is based on real events. Only they did not happen at the same time... and not in the same place,” the description reads. The author of this picture is an artist under the nickname Vemix, who creates his work by cutting out shapes from photos by using knife and scissors. He calls himself a fauxtographer and uses the tag #fauxtography in his posts.
Thus, the viral photo with the actor and rapper is the result of someone’s manipulation in a graphics editor. It was not possible to find any genuine photos of Kerry and Shakur together in the public domain “Verified”.
*Russian authorities think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social networks Instagram and Facebook, is an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.
Cover photo: social networks
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