Days later, former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was photographed signing Israeli artillery fire at Gaza with the message ‘Stop Them.’ A similar old photo of Chris Evans has resurfaced online, sparking a heated debate among fans.
A viral photo posted on social media this week appeared to show the Captain America star autographing a rocket. As Haley’s photo drew intense fire, the Marvel hero became embroiled in a war of words against the Internet.
The eight-year-old photo even prompted fans of the universally loved Hollywood actor to turn against him, accusing the Israeli who signed him of a bombshell. After the virtual controversy reached Evans’ ears, he took to his Instagram story on Thursday to break his silence on the allegations against him.
Chris Evan Clarifies ‘Misinformation’
“There is a lot of misinformation surrounding this photo. Clarification: This photo was taken during the USO tour in 2016,” Chris wrote on Instagram. He also revealed that he followed a group of actors, athletes, and musicians “to show our appreciation for our military,” insisting that the object he appears to be signing in the viral photo “is not a bomb, missile or weapon of any kind.”
A photo has been circulating of Chris Evans signing a bomb, claiming that it is going to be used in Israel’s war on Gaza; but this is an inaccurate account.
This photo is from 2016, shared by U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Flickr Account.
This was during a USO… pic.twitter.com/xi5tr2gLxO
— Ryan Mullis (@MullisVsMachine) March 4, 2024
This is not the first time that this photo has caused virtual controversy. According to the Associated Press, Evan’s viral photo earlier became the talk of the town after an Israeli airstrike reportedly destroyed shelters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, killing dozens of people, mostly women and children.
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After denying the charges against him, Evans said that the alleged “bomb” in that case was “an inert object used only for training or demonstration purposes.” In addition to his fiery online rant against the misconception, he also attached a screenshot of an Agence France-Presse article from February 2024 proving his point. “You can read a quote about the Air Force in the next story,” he added.
AFP’s fact-checking article Photo of ‘Captain America’ star distorted during Gaza conflict confirms internet speculation about him is false. It also notes that the US military captured a picture of the actor when he and other stars were spotted in Turkey in a December 2016 holiday trip sponsored by American Service Organizations.
USO communications director Jennifer Passey told AFP that the photo of Evans holding an unidentified weapon was not related to Israel’s attack on Gaza. “I can confirm that this is a photo from our 2016 USO Holiday Tour and was taken by a DoD photographer at the time,” he wrote in an email.
Additionally, an Air Force representative confirmed that the ‘weapon’ in the infamous Chris Evans photo was an ‘inert training aid,’ rendering it useless on an actual battlefield. “The example Chris Evans signs in a 2016 USO tour photo is an inert Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) training device… The unit is designed to model an artillery shell and is for demonstration and training purposes only,” they told AFP.
Chris Evan Controversy
However, his efforts did not completely quell the online fury as he had hoped. Many continued to speak out against him, demanding that he sign an item associated with traumatic images of violent political reality. In addition, some even focused on how he remained silent on the Palestinian issue despite the photo revealing the truth.
A photo has been circulating of Chris Evans signing a bomb, claiming that it is going to be used in Israel’s war on Gaza; but this is an inaccurate account.
This photo is from 2016, shared by U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Flickr Account.
This was during a USO… pic.twitter.com/xi5tr2gLxO
— Ryan Mullis (@MullisVsMachine) March 4, 2024
‘No one cares if it’s a fake tit; the point is that war propaganda is not pretty,’ wrote another user on Twitter: ‘Chris Evans took to Insta after 8 months of total silence to post his stories about, how it was’ t real bomb, he just signed a practical device but can’t even share it shia* *y AI Rafah’s post everyone else has only…..yeah Steve Rogers never.’
Ohhhh, sure thing, Chris Evans. It’s perfectly all right for you to sign something that merely REPRESENTS the bombs being dropped by our military on human beings. And it’s just fine for you to post about this, but not any info or donation links about Palestine. pic.twitter.com/i4LQPby7Ef
— Arthur (Free Palestine🇵🇸) (@arthur_ant18) May 31, 2024
A third wrote: ‘Ohhhh, definitely Chris Evans. It’s perfectly fine for you to sign something that only pictures our military dropping bombs on people. And it’s great that you’re posting about that, but not Palestine or donation links.’
Amidst the Israeli-Hamas unrest, Chris Evans’ ‘bombshell’ photo gained traction again in May, despite it being an old shot of Nikki Haley touring the northern border between Israel and Lebanon.
