Image of Draymond Green wearing vaccine T-shirt is altered
The claim: A photo shows Draymond Green wearing a pro-vaccine shirt
Manipulated photos of celebrities and politicians wearing clothing with political messages on them have become a popular form of misinformation online.
Shortly after some NBA players announced they were opposed to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine for themselves and criticized the league’s protocols, an image began circulating on social media that purportedly shows Golden State Warriors player Draymond Green wearing a T-shirt with an aggressively pro-vaccine message.
“Draymond Green with no chill on Media Day,” the Facebook page Basketball Forever captioned the photo on Sept. 28. The post accumulated more than 4,000 shares within a day.
Similar versions of the claim have recently been shared to Instagram and Twitter. Some merchandise websites are even selling the shirt online with the name, “Draymond Green T-Shirt.”
But the photo is altered. The original image is from 2017 and shows Green wearing a shirt with an image of a cupcake on it.
Fact check: Image of Ron DeSantis posing with T-shirt that mocks masks is altered
Basketball Forever and the social media users did not return requests for comment.
Photo is altered
The image shared to social media has been digitally manipulated from an authentic photo of Green wearing a shirt that shows an orange and blue cupcake.
ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols shared the photo to Twitter on Feb. 11, 2017, and wrote, “Draymond Green in his new t-shirt.”
At the time, Green and Stephen Curry wore the cupcake shirt during post-game interviews in response to Oklahoma City Thunder fans who were taunting Warriors player Kevin Durant.
The logo seen on the altered version of the photo, which features a cartoon-like syringe uttering a vulgarity, was designed by Art Fuentes, who shared the design to Twitter and Instagram.
“This whole thing has taken me by surprise,” Fuentes told USA TODAY via Instagram direct message. “I knew my little syringe guy was popular, I’d seen the image posted (in) other places, but now the traction it’s gotten is just insane.”
In response to someone who shared the altered photo, Fuentes tweeted, “yo Dramond (sic), this shopped pic is going around of you wearing one of my designs. This dude stole from both of us. Let me know if you’d like a real shirt and I’ll send it to you.”
Fact check: White striping in chicken caused by fat deposits in muscle, indicates a healthy growth rate
Our rating: Altered
An image claiming to show Green wearing a pro-vaccination shirt is ALTERED, based on our research. The original photo shows Green wearing a T-shirt that features a cupcake image and was shared on Twitter by an ESPN reporter in 2017. The vaccine logo was designed by an artist and shared in August.
Our fact-check sources:
- Rachel Nichols, Feb. 11, 2017, Tweet
- For the Win USA TODAY, Feb. 12, 2017, Steph Curry and Draymond Green wore cupcake shirts that OKC fans were using to taunt KD
- ARF! Stuff, accessed Sept. 30, FIDT
- Art Fuentes, Aug. 28, Tweet
- Art Fuentes, Aug. 11, Instagram post
- Art Fuentes, Sept. 28, Tweet
- Reuters, Sept. 29, Fact Check-Image of NBA player Draymond Green wearing vaccine message is digitally altered
- Art Fuentes, Sept. 30, Instagram direct message to USA TODAY
Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app, or electronic newspaper replica here.
Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
