Fake News Around Celebs: Edited Photos of Deepika Padukone With Baby Goes Viral

Several pieces of misinformation about Padukone was circulated pre, during and post her pregnancy.

Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh announced the birth of their first child on Sunday, 8 September.

This was welcomed with a lot of love from social media users but some users also shared edited images to claim that it showed the two with their newborn.

This trend of swapping the faces of celebrities on random images related to pregnancy is not new. While other several actors across the globe face this issue of misinformation about their personal lives, these pieces also risk the privacy of the owners of original images, as most of them carry faces of children.

Let us debunk some of the viral pieces of fake news:

IMAGE 1:

Users shared this image to claim that it shows Padukone holding her child in the hospital.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

However, this image is edited!

• We performed a reverse image search on the Google and this led us to a report shared by a CNN Indonesia report from March 2021.

• It was titled “7 Danger Signs Mothers Experience After Giving Birth".

• The image was credited to iStockphoto/FatCamera and looked like a representative image.

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IMAGE 2

This image has been going viral online even before Padukone gave birth on 8 September.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

This image is fake!

• We performed a reverse image search on the viral image on Yandex and this led us to a report shared by an Indonesian news website, The Epoch Times.

• The report carried the original image and stated that Dr Amanda Hess, OB-GYN at Frankfort Regional Medical Center in Frankfort, Kentucky, helped deliver a patient's baby even though she was getting ready to deliver her own baby.

• The viral image has been flipped, and Padukone's face has been morphed into Dr Hess' face.

• Taking a cue, we performed a relevant keyword search on Google and this led us to several other reports carrying the original image, you can view them here, here and here.

IMAGE 3 & 4

A Facebook page called 'Love Indian Movies' shares a lot of edited images related to Bollywood celebrities.

Another viral image is being shared to claim it shows Padukone and Singh in the hospital.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

• Google reverse image search on the first photo led us to an Instagram post by South African cricketer Quinton De Kock, which was shared on 6 January 2022.

• It featured the original photograph showing De Kock, his wife, Sasha De Kock, and their newborn.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Quinton De Kock (@qdk_12)

We performed a Google reverse image search on the second image, which led us to a Pinterest post by @тнeoғғιcιalangιe featuring the original photo.

IMAGE 5

Another edited image showing Singh and Padukone in the hospital is going viral, especially on YouTube.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

• On performing a reverse image search on Yandex, we found the original image carried by a Turkish news website, Jurnalci.

• It stated that the image shows Turkish singer Nihat Doğan with his wife and newborn.

• Taking a cue, we looked up his profile on Instagram and found the original image shared by the artist on 15 January 2023.

IMAGE 7

This viral image, too, was shared to claim it shows the couple with their child.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

• However, Padukone's and Singh's faces have been morphed over Kate Middleton, Britain's Princess of Wales, and William, Prince of Wales.

• A reverse image search on Google led us to the original photo shared by Observer on 4 May 2015.

• It stated that the royal couple posed for photographs after the birth of birth of Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

• Taking a cue, we performed a relevant keyword search and found the original version on Getty.

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