Photo shows pile of X-rated DVDs found at former Syrian president Bashar Assad’s palace.
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No, this image does not show a collection of pornographic videos found at Bashar Assad’s palace
If Your Time is short
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The image originated from a 2021 advertisement selling three boxes of pornographic DVDs from a Southport, Australia, auction house.
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A Google search for news reports about the DVDs being found at Assad’s residence yielded no results.
Rebel forces toppled former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government Dec. 8, forcing him to flee to Russia while his overthrowers freed political captives from the nation’s prisons.
Syrians ransacked Assad’s Damascus residence. Associated Press photos showed papers, books and glass shards strewn across rooms as people took appliances, clothing, furniture and other objects from the now-abandoned property.
On X, some shared an image of pornographic DVDs they claimed were also found at his residence.
"NSFW: Additional pile of movies found in Assad’s palace," an X post from the account @Breaking911, a self-identified "alternative news" platform which PolitiFact has previously fact-checked, read. The post included a collage of two photos showing stacks of explicit DVDs.
A Community Note disputed the claim and linked to a website for a Southport, Australia, auction dealer that showed the post’s image originated from images that appeared in a May 15, 2021, ad for three boxes of porn DVDs. (Community Notes are a crowdsourced fact-checking program.)
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"I agree folks this is a bit out of our comfort zone," the ad said. "But it was found in a deceased estate and the family want as much money out of it as they can get. So we are selling dear old dads 3 boxes of porn DVD's."
Featured Fact-check
The image in the X post appeared to be edited, a compilation of three images that appeared in the auction ad; the titles of the DVDs in the X post match those on the auction site.
Google searches for news reports about the DVDs at Assad’s residence yielded no results.
We rate the claim that a photo shows a pile of X-rated DVDs found at Assad’s palace False.
Our Sources
CNN, The Assad regime ruled Syria for 50 years. Here’s how it fell in less than two weeks, Dec. 9, 2024
X post (archived), Dec. 8, 2024
PolitiFact, Donald Trump didn’t play the song ‘Hoochie Mama’ for Kamala Harris during a debate, Nov. 15, 2024
Danielle Eilzabeth, About Danielle Elizabeth, June 30, 2020
Danielle Elizabeth, 3 Boxes of Porn DVD’s - Most Have Proof Of Over 18 to Buy!, May 15. 2021
Reuters, Syrians stroll through Assad’s palaces, take furniture and ornaments, Dec. 8, 2024
NPR, Syrians ransack Assad’s private residence in Damascus after the regime’s downfall, Dec. 8, 2024
Fortune, This was Bashar al-Assad’s mansion. Syrians are now helping themselves to its opulence after the ousted dictator fled to Russia, Dec. 8, 2024
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No, this image does not show a collection of pornographic videos found at Bashar Assad’s palace
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