Did actor Morgan Freeman announce after performing at the 2022 World Cup that he has converted to Islam? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Freeman ever publicly confirmed that he converted to Islam.
The claim appeared in a Facebook post published on November 23, 2022. The post's caption read:
Morgan freeman converted to islam
The famouse hollywood actor
#MorganFreeman
The post also featured an image of Freeman at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
This is how the post looked on Facebook at the time of the writing of this fact check:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Nov 30 23:18:21 2022 UTC)
The post references Freeman's performance during the opening ceremony at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The ceremony included a recitation of Quran verses by FIFA World Cup Ambassador Ghanim Al-Muftah.
During his own appearance, however, the 85-year-old actor, known for playing God in the films "Bruce Almighty" and "Evan Almighty," did not mention converting to Islam.
There is also no credible evidence that he has announced converting to Islam at any other point.
Lead Stories contacted Fred Spektor, a Creative Artists Agency agent who represents Freeman. We will update this story with any response.
Reuters reported on November 23, 2022 that Spektor had denied in an email to the news agency that Freeman converted to Islam.
In a 2019 interview with AARP to mark his hosting of "The Story of God," a National Geographic documentary series about the impact of faith around the world, Freeman stated that, if he could "claim a religion," it would be Zoroastrianism. This faith is a pre-Islamic religion that developed in modern-day Iran.
Previous Lead Stories fact checks of claims related to Freeman can be found here.
