Faked AP report wrongly claims that Olympic art director was struck by lightning

A supposed screenshot of an Associated Press (AP) article claims the Olympic ceremony art director was struck by a freak bolt of lightning. But the article is fake and its claims are false.

The screenshot in question mimics the format of the AP website, and incorrectly reports: “Artist behind the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony Hospitalised After Freak Lighting Strike.”

Users on social media are also sharing a video of a man discussing the screenshot, in which the speaker suggests that the article came from “a local station out of Paris”.

But no aspect of this is correct.

As other fact checkers have reported, no record exists of AP ever having posted this article, and it does not appear on the organisation’s social media. 

There have also been no credible reports that Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the Paris 2024 ceremonies, has been struck by lightning or recently hospitalised. Nor has Mr Jolly himself mentioned it on his own social media accounts, including in posts that were published after this fake screenshot appeared.   

A spokesperson for AP also told Reuters: “The screenshot circulating on social media is not an AP story. AP did not report this.”

A clue that the article is fake is the use of initial capitals on most words in its headline, which is not the current practice on real AP World News articles.

The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, which Mr Jolly said featured a sequence depicting Greek gods, was criticised by some people who claimed that it included an insulting recreation of a painting of Jesus Christ. Public prosecutors in France have since opened a formal investigation into alleged death threats and harassment of Mr Jolly. 

False or misleading claims online have the potential to harm individuals, groups and democratic processes and institutions. Online claims can spread fast and far, and are difficult to contain and correct.