Did actor Jason Statham install a Palestinian flag on his Jeep amid the Israel-Hamas conflict in 2023? No, that's not true: A close-up picture from a video included in the claim clearly shows that the man in it is not Statham, a well-known Hollywood actor. Statham has not made any public comments about the Hamas-Israel conflict as of this writing.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on October 24, 2023. It opened with the caption over the video:
#BREAKING #URGENT #FreePalestine #FreeGaza 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
Actor Jason Statham installs a Palestinian flag on his jeep, despite being challenged by the police
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Nov 2 23:25:21 2023 UTC)
The video plays music while a man is seen putting the flag of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on the hood of his car. At 15 seconds into the video there is a clear shot of the man's face, which does not resemble Statham, despite the fact that both men are bald. Here is a close-up image of the man's face:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Nov 2 23:26:12 2023 UTC)
Here is an image of Statham he posted on his official Instagram page (archived here):
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Thu Nov 2 23:27:22 2023 UTC)
On November 2, 2023, a source close to the actor confirmed to Lead Stories that it was not Statham in the video -- noting the person in the video looks nothing like the actor.
Lead Stories determined that the video was filmed outside the Moo Moo Car Wash in Columbus, Ohio, as this image of the white barn-like business shows. The U.S. flags, yellow markings, position of the poster and the windows, and the floodlights hanging off the building all match the video:
(Source: Google screenshot taken on Thu Nov 2 23:28:22 2023 UTC)
From the video:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Nov 2 23:29:02 2023 UTC)
The window with red trim from where the person is filming is visible in the opening seconds of the original version of the video and matches with the Discount Tire Co. across the street from the car wash, as seen here:
(Source: Google screenshot taken on Thu Nov 2 23:30:16 2023 UTC)
The bushes in front of the tire store also match the bushes in the video here:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Nov 2 23:31:34 2023 UTC)
The video was originally posted on TikTok on October 21, 2023, with the caption "he made sure to wash his car first🥹 #freepalestine #freepalestine🇵🇸❤️ #freepalestine🇵🇸 #palestine #palestinetiktok #fyp #fypシ," and did not mention Statham.
Other Lead Stories articles on claims pertaining to the 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict are here.
