Recently, information about Las Vegas’ MSG Sphere‘s spherical screen broadcasting an image of the Russian flag and congratulations “on Russian Flag Day” has circulated online. Our fact-checking team checked if this information is true.
What happened?
Telegram channels “Vypuskajte Krakena/Let the Kraken Out!” (archive), “Shkvarka News” (archive), and “V🇷🇺Ruka Kremlya🇷🇺Z” (archive) spread information that the world’s largest spherical screen, MSG Sphere, located in Las Vegas, United States supposedly displayed an image of the Russian flag.
The caption “Congratulations on the Day of the Flag of the Russian Federation” supposedly circled the image of the flag.
Analysis
The MSG Sphere is the world’s largest spherical music and entertainment facility in Paradise, an “unincorporated town” in Las Vegas. Its main feature is that its outer surface is covered with LED displays broadcasting various images and videos. Inside, there is an event hall.
We contacted Sphere Entertainment Co., a company that owns the MSG Sphere, and asked them to confirm or deny the information about the Russian Flag Day greeting on the sphere’s screen.
The company replied that the image was fake and had been subjected to computer editing.
Next, we found the original video from January 21, 2024, on the official MSG Sphere Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok accounts, which was probably used to create the fake video.
We assume that the original video was edited by slowing down the original’s playback speed and replacing the spherical screen’s image with the Russian flag.
Therefore, the information that the world’s largest spherical screen in Las Vegas displayed the Russian flag and congratulations on Russian Flag Day (August 22) is not true.
Conclusion: Fake
Author: Ihor Sum
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