No, this isn’t a photo of groomsmen holding up a paralyzed groom

One Facebook user wrote that they were "in tears" after seeing a post of a groom kissing the bride as his groomsmen lined up behind him in what looks like a single-file group hug. 

"He’s paralyzed and his friends held him up to kiss his beautiful bride," the Sept. 22 post says. "Much respect! This is true friendship. Don’t scroll without sharing."

This post, which has indeed been shared more than 56,000 times, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

Other Facebook users were also moved to tears, but more in the spirit of the crying-while-laughing emoji. 

"This is a fraternity thing," one user wrote in the comments, "they ain’t holding him up." 

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stated on September 16, 2024 in a post

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This claim has been around since at least December 2016, when the website Diply posted a story titled: "People are so wrong about this viral photo showing ‘paralyzed man’ held up at wedding."

It says the bride posted the photo on Instagram that year. The account credited with the photo is now private, but Diply published two others that show the bride and groom standing, unassisted. 

As AFP Fact Check notes, someone commenting on a similar Facebook post in 2016 wrote that the groom "belongs to the fraternity Omega Psi Phi and this is a traditional marriage pose that symbolizes how your brothers will always be there to support you." 

We didn’t find any other examples of wedding photos like the one featured in the Facebook post, but we found several photos of the pose in different contexts searching for Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and line brothers. This Omega Psi Phi Pinterest page has multiple such images. 

We rate this Facebook post False.