Image of vulgar anti-Trump message on the Las Vegas Sphere is fabricated | Fact check

The claim: Image shows Las Vegas Sphere lit up with vulgar anti-Trump display

A March 16 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes an image of the Las Vegas Sphere with an American flag display that says "F--- Trump."

"The Sphere in Vegas is so awesome!" reads the post.

It was shared more than 1,000 times in less than a week.

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Our rating: Altered

No such message was displayed on the Las Vegas Sphere, a venue spokesperson told USA TODAY. The background of the image matches a TikTok filter that allows users to create their own Sphere graphics.

Background matches TikTok filter that allows users to add their own images, videos to Sphere

A spokesperson for Sphere Entertainment, who declined to be named, said the image is “not real.”

There are also no local news reports about the purported display, and no such image appears on the Sphere’s social media accounts, where pictures and videos of the venue's displays are regularly posted.

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The background of the image in the Facebook post matches one used in a TikTok filter that allows users to superimpose their own images or videos on top of the Sphere.

USA TODAY previously debunked altered images showing the Sphere with a vulgar message about President Joe Biden and an Israeli flag amid the country’s war with Hamas.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources:

• Sphere, accessed March 21, Instagram account search 

• Sphere, accessed March 21, X account search

• Sphere Entertainment spokesperson, March 21, Email exchange with USA TODAY

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Image of anti-Trump message on Vegas Sphere is fabricated | Fact check