Obama-produced film 'Leave the World Behind' did not show Baltimore's Key Bridge | Fact check

Andre Byik, USA TODAY
Updated ·3 min read

The claim: Obama-produced Netflix movie featured Baltimore bridge that collapsed

A March 27 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a person viewing the wreckage of a collapsed bridge through a window.

"For those of you that don’t know, the Francis Scott Key bridge is the same bridge that was shown in the Netflix movie 'Leave the World Behind,'" the post's caption reads. "The production company is owned by the Obamas. Open your eyes people."

The post was shared more than 2,000 times in two days.

Fact-check roundup: Baltimore bridge collapse sparks many misleading claims online. Here's what's true and false.

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Our rating: False

The image in the post is not from the 2023 Netflix film produced by Barack and Michelle Obama. It's a digitally manipulated March 26 photo of the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The bridge is not shown in the movie.

Photo shared by Maryland volunteer firefighter association

The image in the post includes an edited photo of the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed into the Patapsco River after being struck by a cargo ship on March 26. The original photo was shared on the Facebook page for the Harford County Volunteer Fire and Emergency Medical Services Association and circulated by news agencies such as the Washington Post and Reuters.

The image in the post purports to show the collapsed bridge outside a window, but it has clear indications of digital manipulation, including spots where the outside image overlaps the window frame and where the frame has jagged white space around it from sloppy image manipulation.

The supposed freezeframe is not from the 2023 apocalyptic thriller "Leave the World Behind," which was executive produced by the former president and his wife and backed by their Higher Ground production company. A USA TODAY review of the film found no scenes that show the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. There are also no scenes that show a ship striking a bridge.

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The movie follows two New York City families as they navigate a mysterious blackout, according to Netflix, the film's distributor.

USA TODAY has debunked an array of false claims involving the collapse of the Baltimore bridge, including claims that footage shows "dynamite" detonating during the collapse, that a cyberattack caused the ship to crash into the bridge and that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said the collapsed bridge was "racist."

The Facebook user who shared the post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Obama-produced Netflix film did not show Baltimore bridge | Fact check