Question

Gutted seeing the Hollywood Sign ablaze

Comments

The Hollywood sign did indeed not burn down. There were a lot of false images that got spread around. Although the fire was close to the sign, it did not catch on fire. Sites prove that the sign is still standing and well.

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I know the Hollywood sign did not burn down. I am from California myself and I've seen a lot of fake news and AI generated photos. Bluesky as a source is very good and it showing the post may be deleted is also a good trick. It gives the illusion that it might have actually burned down. Long live Hollywood, it will stand longer than us!

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I believe that your response is accurate, but by just saying 'sites' it doesn't help me to be sure. I think by adding a site that proves this you would have a great response.

Answer 1

With AI images becoming more sophisticated, the image of the Hollywood sign on fire looks incredibly realistic. However, this image was faked and spread around online for clickbait. When looking at live maps and footage of the area around the Hollywood sign, there is no sign of fire having touched Griffith Park. This is a link to a live map of the California wildfires. As of right now, the Palisades, Eaton, and Southern LA areas have the biggest ongoing fires. Here are some links to live footage of the Hollywood sign (https://www.iplivecams.com/live-cams/hollywood-sign-los-angeles-california-united-states/) (https://www.hollywoodsign.org/webcam)

Comments

I believe that your answer is correct and important being that you were able to acknowledge that Ai has become more sophisticated, acknowledging this sift in Ai helps users differentiate what is real and fake when coming across a controversial image. I also appreciate the links you used to support your evidence in the text providing a website with live cameras of the Hollywood sign.

Answer 2

As of today, the Hollywood sign has not been affected by the fires in Los Angeles. According to https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents the Hollywood sign has not been affected by the fires. There have been many reports stating that there are several Ai generated images of the Hollywood sign on fire that are going around on social media. Here is an article from NBC Los Angeles that talks about these fake images.

Comments

Your response uses trusted sources that help users/readers. One thing that you could've added to your response would be specifying which social media platforms are spreading the fake images.

Answer 3

This claim that the Hollywood sign is ablaze is false. The source bsky.app is not a credible source for news, but a social media platform/website. The news of the devastating wild fire is spreading all throughout the nation along with fake news of the fire. The biggest one being that the famous Hollywood sign is on fire. The first fakes which are mostly generated by Ai were shown on platforms such as X and TikTok, which aren't very credible sources. Although they are platforms where an image of controversy can be shared fast. According to an article "LA's wildfires prompted a rash of fake images. Here's why" seen on npr.org. Professor Hany Farid from University of California Berkeley said it best, "You've got to love the one where the Hollywood sign is spelled wrong." People need to stop and question if what they are seeing on social media is real before spreading fake news and fear, use trusted sources and spread the truth. 

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/16/nx-s1-5259629/la-wildfires-fake-images

Answer 4

The Hollywood sign was not on fire. The fires had hit the Hollywood Hills, however, the videos of the sign “on fire” were AI generated.

Answer 5

Although it is widely known that there is a large fire in and around LA, it is a myth that the infamous Hollywood sign is on fire. There is a fake AI image going around the internet right now of the Holywood sign set ablaze by this tragic fire. However, if you do some research and look at the fire mao on https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents, you will see that the fire has, in fact, not reached the sign. The sign is in Griffith Park, and the fire has fortunately not made it there. AI has grown so much over the last year, and you always have to be careful and do research before believing everything you see online. 

Answer 6

In this post, it is claimed that the Hollywood sign is ablaze. With the Los Angeles fires spreading, so is news. There has been many claims as to what has or hasn't burnt down. Many new sites and social media have posted AI generated photos of sites burning down. Numerous news have posted that the sign hasn't burnt down  from Fox11 Los Angeles, NBC, Forbes, and LA Times. The person who made this claim may have seen the many misinformations about these fires.

https://www.foxla.com/news/no-the-hollywood-sign-did-not-burn-down-sunset-fire

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-10/debunking-social-media-fire-myths-no-the-hollywood-sign-didnt-burn

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california-wildfires/hollywood-sign-fire/3599907/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/01/09/the-hollywood-sign-is-not-on-fire-as-social-media-users-share-ai-generated-images/

Answer 7

The Hollywood sign was never actually on fire. I too believed this at first after seeing AI generated photos on X of the sign a-blaze. I was not able to find these posts on X. But This article by NPR and fact check by Reuters explain how social media users were sharing fake images of the fire spreading to the sign, after the fire in the Hollywood Hills was contained. Reuters even stated that when they prompted X's AI chat bot to create images of the sign of fire, the images it created were similar to the fakes being spread around. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/16/nx-s1-5259629/la-wildfires-fake-images

https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/hollywood-sign-not-affected-by-los-angeles-wildfires-2025-01-09/

Answer 8

To fact check this claim I am going to use the SIFT method:

1. This claim is that the hollywood sign caught on fire and was destroyed. This claim came from an AI generated image going around online showing the hollywood sign on fire. 

2. After looking at articles from prominent news sources like NPR and the LA Times about the topic, the image was generated shortly after the LA wildfires started to generate more panic and confusion. The image of the sign, along with others like it spread fast online and tricked a lot of people into thinking the images were real. This prompted a flurry of articles to be published about how to spot fake images and to beware of what they see online.

3. When trying to find where the images were first posted and by who, it became impossible because of how many people posted the images thinking it was real. The images circulated around social media platforms like X, Instagram, and Facebook. 

In conclusion; the images of the Hollywood sign burning down were AI generated images and not what was actually happening. My personal opinion is that the images were created and spread to try and cause a wider panic on social media and for whoever created the images to have a laugh. While this was a weird and morally wrong thing to do, people like the anonymity of social media so they can do whatever they want under the idea of no repercussion, often not realizing the effect they have on others.

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/16/nx-s1-5259629/la-wildfires-fake-images

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-10/debunking-social-media-fire-myths-no-the-hollywood-sign-didnt-burn

https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/watch-fake-l.a-wildfires-posts-are-tricking-people-how-to-spot-whats-not-real

Answer 9

The claim made by the user under the name, “Bluesea”, that the Hollywood sign caught fire during the horrific LA wildfires, is blatantly false. The link backing up the claim sends the viewer to the social media network Bluesky, where the viewer will find that the content within the source has been deleted. Usually on social media platforms if information that is going around is false, it will get taken down, which is exactly what happened here. Additionally, information that is spread on social media platforms such as Bluesky, X, Instagram, and Tiktok should be further fact checked as false information is spread fast and far. According to Viterbo University, “social media platforms do not require users to verify information before posting it” unlike news outlets that “go through a process of fact-checking information before publishing it.” This means that any information you see on social media could 100% be fake, and looking to news outlets for certainty is what you should do. Furthermore, after investigating this claim on reliable news sources, such as NPR, La times, Forbes, and the Hollywood sign camera, the claim has been found inaccurate and false. The Hollywood sign camera, which will be linked below, shows a 24/7 display of the front and back of the Hollywood sign. This site currently shows the Hollywood sign to be still standing, not on fire, or in close proximity to any fires. Overall, social media can be a place to research news already discovered on news outlets, not the primary news source. 

https://lumen.viterbo.edu/1330/editorials/is-social-media-a-reliable-news-source/

https://www.hollywoodsign.org/webcam

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/16/nx-s1-5259629/la-wildfires-fake-images

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-10/debunking-social-media-fire-myths-no-the-hollywood-sign-didnt-burn

Answer 10

According to NPR, many fake reports of the Hollywood Sign on fire surfaced. Some reports used AI generation and some had other blatant issues. Such issues including the Hollywood being spelled incorrectly. There was a fire in Runyon Canyon close to the Hollywood Sign, but it did not reach the sign. Jeff Zarrinnam, the chair of the Hollywood Sign Trust, said the Hollywood Sign was not burned. He claims to have had good viewing of the sign from both his home and office at the Hollywood Hotel.

CBC Kids News reports Images of the flaming sign started showing up around january 7th. Wildfires were real; however, the iconic sign was not part of the fire. Interesting enough if you look up lA wildfires on TikTok many of the posts are AI generated content further, showing how easy it is to make ai generated content.

Sources:

https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/watch-fake-l.a-wildfires-posts-are-tricking-people-how-to-spot-whats-not-real

https://npr.org/2025/01/16/nx-s1-5259629/la-wildfires-fake-images