Did ‘Vampire Diaries’ star condemn Israel’s Rafah attack? No, influencer with the same name did

An Israeli airstrike ignited a fire in an encampment where displaced Gazans were sheltering, killing 45 Palestinians. Many public figures condemned the May 26 attack, but "Vampire Diaries" actress Candice King was not one of them, as social media users claimed. 

A May 27 X post shared a video of a woman expressing outrage. "What the hell is wrong with you? I’m not talking about the Israeli government, I’m talking about you guys who are still silent," the woman says. 

She continues, "There were just rumors of babies being beheaded by Hamas. No one saw pictures. …The world went crazy. But there are photos and pictures of beheaded babies in Rafah. The beheaded babies should draw the line for us all." 

A video of a man holding a decapitated baby during the Rafah tent attack went viral online.

The video was shared with the caption, "(Actress) Candice King calls out Rafah massacre and beheaded babies." 

The post received a community note, saying the woman in the video is not the American actress. 

The woman in the video is a South African social media influencer who is also named Candice King. She shared the video on her Instagram account May 26. She has advocated for Palestinian human rights since she visited the West Bank in 2016.

Featured Fact-check

Instagram posts

stated on October 1, 2024 in an Instagram post

Video shows a missile strike on Israel.

Actress Candice King’s official Instagram account does not currently have any posts about the Rafah attack or the Israel-Hamas war. 

Quds News Network, a Palestinian news platform, also shared the video on X. The organization later issued a correction, saying the woman was not actress Candice King.

We rate the claim that actress Candice King "call(ed) out Rafah massacre and beheaded babies" False.