Is the photo of the Oscar statue that burned in Los Angeles true?

In January 2025, Internet users circulated a photo showing a prestigious American Film Academy award allegedly damaged during fires in California. We have verified the authenticity of this photo.

On RuNet, an image of a charred figurine lying among a pile of coals and ashes went viral on January 13. Telegram channel «Heavenly"(117,000 views at the time of writing this analysis) clarified that the photo was published by an Italian actress Isabella Rossellini. Later, journalist Alexey Venediktov* (92,000 views) in his channel wrotethat this is her photograph. Similar posts can be found on Facebook** (one of them dialed 3600 likes) and Instagram** (for example, on the magazine page Hello). Some media outlets also talked about the photo, including EADaily. The publication clarified that the Italian film star published the photo on her Instagram page. At the same time, according to the actress, her brother sent her this photo. “Where this photograph was taken and who owns the charred figurine is not specified,” the article says.

Since January 7, 2025, fires have been raging in Southern California, due to which thousands of buildings and died at least 25 people, about 200,000 more residents were forced evacuate. In particular, the fire affected the Los Angeles metropolitan area, where Hollywood is located. Natural disaster accompanied by numerous fakes. For example, earlier the Network was flooded with photographs and videos of the allegedly burning Hollywood sign - it turned outthat these images were generated by neural networks.

It is known that many Hollywood stars, including several Oscar winners, were injured due to the disaster. lost their homes. Due to ongoing fires, the American Film Academy has already endured the date of announcement of the 2025 nominees, as well as postponed or canceled some other events. Against this background, Russian media, including “Arguments and facts" And Ura.ru, citing an anonymous British tabloid source The Sun reported that due to the fires, this year’s ceremony for awarding statuettes could be completely canceled (for the first time in history). The authoritative publication about the film industry, The Hollywood Reporter, in turn, named this news is a baseless lie. Journalists reported that they spoke with senior officials of the Film Academy - they noted that canceling the event was not being considered.

As for the viral photo, Rossellini really posted him on his Instagram page on the night of January 13, Moscow time. The 72-year-old Italian actress herself has won the world's main film award so far No, although for her role in the film “Conclave” this year she was already nominated for “Golden Globe" And British Academy Film Award (BAFTA). At her father's Roberto Rossellini was only nomination to the Oscars, but here's her mother, Ingrid Bergman, got three figurines. However, based on the caption on Rossellini's post, the viral photo is not related to her family.

"In his previous post, where I listed all my nominations for the film"Conclave“, I couldn’t find any suitable words. Of course, I am very grateful and proud, but everything connected with Hollywood and Los Angeles only brings tears to my eyes when I think about all the friends and colleagues who are experiencing the tragic fires. I talked about it with my brother Roberto, and he sent me this heartbreaking photo that he found,” the actress wrote.

In many English-speaking publications approved, as if the photo actually shows Oscar in the burnt house of the American actor and director Robert Redford. Such posts are also found in Russian. The photo was allegedly shared by the 88-year-old artist himself, who received award twice: in 1981 for the film “Ordinary People” and in 2002, when he was awarded an honorary statuette for outstanding achievements in cinema. However, “Verified” was unable to find Redford’s verified social media accounts where he could post a photo of the burnt award. Back in 2016, in one of interview artist claimedthat he doesn't like social media and that he prefers to live away from the public eye. Additionally, in December 2024, Redford sold his home in California, which was located in the north of the state, far from the areas currently affected by fires, so that he and his wife could have more time carried out in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Entertainment Weekly asked the corresponding question to the actor's representative, who said that there was no basis for linking the viral photo with Redford. “This is fake. He lives in Santa Fe. This is not his Oscar,” the journalist’s interlocutor added.

According to the publication Gold Derby, who covers film awards and television competitions, a “well-informed” source from the Film Academy could not confirm the authenticity of the photograph. Moreover, the representative of the organization stated, that if Los Angeles-based nominees' awards were damaged by fire, they would be replaced: "Any Oscar winner whose statuette was destroyed in a fire can contact us and we will happily replace it."

Part of users and publications claimthat viral photo is deformed gold plated figurines (in different historical periods it was produced from various materials) was generated by artificial intelligence (AI). “Verified” analyzed the image using six AI image detection detectors. In half of the cases, the services reported that the photo was most likely created using neural networks, in half - that AI was most likely not used to create the photo. Such conclusions are not surprising: in 2023, article The New York Times compared the work of several similar services, and it turned out that they do not always give the correct results. Similar study was also conducted by a group of scientists from the University of Chicago: in their article, published in 2024, they concluded that a combination of human and automated analysis provides greater accuracy in AI image detection than using detector services alone.

If you do a reverse image search using Google Lens and go to the “About this image” section, you will see a “Made with Google AI” warning under the image. At the end of 2024 reportedthat an American corporation produces update, which will make it easier to discover images created or edited with AI. Google started add special “watermarks” on photos, videos, audio and texts created or edited using AI tools developed by the company.

Using a reverse image search in the same “Verified” service, we found out that the earliest appearance of a viral photo (among those publications that we were able to track) took place on Facebook January 12 at 12:29 Moscow time on the page Bob Redford. Apparently, the author of this profile is posing as a famous actor, so many subscribers decided that Redford himself shared the photo. Moreover, on this page, unlike all the posts mentioned above, the image is posted in its entirety, so in its lower part you can see the letter combination TiJS, reminiscent of the author’s signature. In other publications it is completely or partially cut off. “Checked” could not find out what this letter combination means.

Thus, all of the above arguments indicate that the viral image was fabricated. Neither “Verified” nor the American media could establish whether this photo was posted by one of the Oscar winners or, for example, firefighters currently working in Los Angeles and the surrounding area. The authenticity of the image was at least not confirmed, and at most denied by representatives of the Film Academy and actor Robert Redford, in whose house this figurine was allegedly photographed. At the same time, numerous AI detectors indicate that the image was created using neural networks.

*Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation believes Alexey Venediktov as a “foreign agent”.

**Russian authorities think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social network Facebook and Instagram, is an extremist organization; its activities and symbols are prohibited in Russia.

Cover photo: social networks

Not true

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