Chris Evans offered some clarification after a resurfaced photo of him signing what initially appeared to be a missile sparked controversy.
The image taken eight years ago began circulating on social media this week, which led some fans to wrongly criticize the actor for autographing what they claimed to be an Israeli bomb. However, the Captain America star took to his Instagram Story on Thursday to shut down the accusations.
“There’s a lot of misinformation surrounding this picture. Some clarification: This image was taken during a USO tour in 2016,” Evans wrote. “I went with a group of actors, athletes and musicians to show appreciation for our service members. 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. You can read the quote from the Air Force in the next story,” he added, before sharing a screenshot of an Agence France-Presse article that confirmed his statement.
The photograph was reportedly taken when Evans was in Turkey honoring U.S. troops during a December 2016 holiday tour sponsored by the United Service Organizations. An Air Force spokesperson told AFP, “The object Chris Evans is signing in the USO tour photo from 2016 is an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) inert training aid. The object is meant to model an artillery shell and is for display and training purposes only.”
Backlash towards the Ghosted actor also initially heated up due to the photo resurfacing days after presidential hopeful Nikki Haley was photographed signing an Israeli artillery shell with the words “finish them” while touring the country’s northern border amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the Associated Press reported.
The image of Evans also went viral days after an Israeli airstrike reportedly killed dozens of people, mostly women and children, sheltering in a tent camp in the southern Gaza city of Rafah — which resulted in more criticism before the actor issued his statement.
