False claim video shows 'Vampire Diaries' actress condemning Rafah strike | Fact check

Andre Byik, USA TODAY
·2 min read

The claim: Video shows American actress Candice King condemning Rafah 'massacre'

A May 27 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a video of a woman decrying casualties in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" the woman says in the video. "I'm not talking about the Israeli government. I'm talking about you guys who are still silent because you don't want to lose your sponsor!"

The post's caption reads in part, "American actress Candice King condemns the massacre in the Rafah refugee camp perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces."

A similar post on X, formerly Twitter, was reposted more than 40,000 times in two days.

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Our rating: False

The video is miscaptioned. It does not show American actress Candice King, but rather an influencer from South Africa who shares the same name.

Post attributes video to wrong Candice King

The woman in the video is South African travel influencer Candice King, not the American actress Candice King who is known for her role as Caroline Forbes on the TV series "The Vampire Diaries," which ran from 2009 to 2017.

The video appeared on the South African King's Instagram page on May 27, the day after a deadly fire tore through a temporary refugee camp following an Israeli airstrike near the southern Gaza city of Rafah. At least 45 people were killed as a result of the attack, which Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a "tragic mishap."

The South African influencer, who speaks with a South African accent, later posted a longer version of the video on TikTok.

The American actress King maintains a significant social media presence, with 11 million followers on Instagram and another 2 million on TikTok. The video in the Facebook post does not appear on her social media accounts, nor are there any credible news reports about the actress making such statements about the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Fact check: Warrants sought against Israel, Hamas leaders, but not yet granted in Hague

She also hosts "A Superbloom Podcast," and videos of the podcast show she isn't the woman in the Facebook video and doesn't speak with the same accent as the South African influencer.

The Facebook user who shared the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video doesn't show 'Vampire Diaries' actress Candice King | Fact check

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