Steven Seagal films pulled from US streaming amid fake news scandal

This week, information emerged that streaming platforms in the United States removed several productions featuring Steven Seagal from their offerings. Among them was a film titled "Cartels," which is worth mentioning as it contributed to creating a notorious fake news story.

A few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the media reported that American actor and Putin sympathiser Steven Seagal was fighting on the side of the aggressor. This news was quickly debunked; the published photo was merely a still from a film. It's worth looking into the origins of this fake news story.

The false information that Steven Seagal is fighting "among Russian special forces" was spread on social media by Joe Rogan, an American sports commentator, television host, and stand-up comedian. He showed a graphic resembling a CNN post on Twitter, where Seagal, wearing dark sunglasses, a combat uniform, and a rifle slung over his shoulder, is participating in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The sensational news spread like wildfire around the world, although it was debunked the same day. "I deleted my earlier post about Steven Seagal being in Ukraine because it was parody, which isn’t surprising, but honestly it wouldn’t be surprising if it was true either," Joe Rogan explained.

The photo of Seagal published by Rogan was taken from the film "Cartels", which was released for VOD distribution at the beginning of 2017. Interestingly, the still came from a part of the film set in Ukraine, specifically in Odessa, in the territory of a drug lord beyond the control of the supposedly powerless Ukrainian authorities.

While filming "Cartels," the Hollywood star and the film's producer were not yet banned from entering Ukraine. However, the filming location was Romania, and the entire material was recorded there. Currently, "Cartels" is no longer available on any streaming platform.