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Marvel star Chris Evans has taken to social media to break his silence over an infamous photo of him taken in 2016, appearing to show him autographing a missile during a visit with US armed forces.
News.com.au website reports that, eight years later, Evans has posted a clarification on his Instagram Stories page, saying:
“This image was taken during a USO tour in 2016 … I went with a group of actors, athletes and musicians to show appreciation for our service members.
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“The object I was asked to sign is not a bomb, or a missile, or a weapon of any kind. It’s an inert object used for training or display purposes only.”
Evans added a screenshot of an AFP Fact Check story posted earlier this year, which stated that the weapon in the shot was not destined for the Gaza strip as some had speculated.
The AFP stated that the photo was taken “as [Evans] and other celebrities visited troops in Turkey in 2016, years before the militant group’s deadly attack on Israel plunged the region into conflict.”
Evans’s explanation has not gone down well with everyone. New York Magazine wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Chris Evans addressed a 2016 photo that appears to show him signing a bomb on a USO tour. The actor explained that it was actually a fake bomb that’s used to train people to use real bombs. Glad he cleared that up,”
The Australian website gives context to the picture, reporting that Evans joined other celebrities including Scarlett Johansson in a visit to US troops stationed in Turkey in 2016.