Does a video show Adm. Rachel L. Levine, the assistant secretary of health and human services, performing what is described as a pagan ritual? No, that's not true: A reverse image search revealed that the woman in the video is someone else, a spokesperson for the pagan religion and a clinical psychotherapist. No credible news media have reported that Levine is a religious leader who practices paganism.
The claim appeared in a video post (archived here) on X on November 16, 2024. Above a video of a woman singing, the caption said:
Assistant secretary of health and human services Dr 'Rachel' Levine is also a High Pagan Priestess This is so stunning and brave, more braver than the most stunning thing I've ever seen.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Wed Nov 20 16:37:30 2024 UTC)
The post did not provide any information to support this claim, such as when or where the ritual took place, or any evidence to establish the person's identity as being Levine.
A Yandex reverse image search (archived here) revealed a Pinterest post (archived here) that linked to the website of Circle Sanctuary. This had the profile of the Rev. Selena Fox, a spokesperson for the pagan religion and a clinical psychotherapist.
A search of Fox's verified Instagram account revealed this September 15, 2024, post (archived here), with the same video seen in the post on X.
A Google News search (archived here) using keywords from this post did not reveal any reports about Levine performing a pagan ritual. Instead, it produced three unrelated articles published in 2021 that mentioned Levine's name.
An accurate image of Levine can be seen here on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website.
Lead Stories reached out to her office and HHS Public Affairs. This fact check will be updated if any responses are received.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks of claims mentioning Rachel Levine can be read here.
