Did famous Egyptian actor Hani Ramzi endorse opposition politician and presidential candidate Ahmed Tantawi? No, that's not true: Ramzi posted a video explaining that the message he shared on social media was meant for a friend with the same last name. He said he did not endorse Tantawi in the upcoming Egyptian presidential elections, scheduled for December 2024.
The claim appeared in this video (no longer available live, but archived here) on TikTok on September 30, 2023, under the title (translated from Arabic to English by Lead Stories staff): "Guardians of Hope, Elections 2024; Guardians of Hope Support Hamed Tantawi." The post has banners (also in Arabic, translated by Lead Stories) saying:
Actor Hani Ramzi endorse Ahmed Tantawi.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Oct 4 14:25:08 2023 UTC)
The video shows Ramzi speaking to the camera and saying (translated from Arabic to English by Lead Stories staff):
Listen Tantawi, you are a beautiful person and you are making a lot of people happy, your generosity, your ethics, your elegance makes people love you.
The claim appeared in several posts, such as here and here.
Ramzi issued a video statement (archived here) on TikTok on October 2, 2023, denying that he endorsed Tantawi in the upcoming elections and explained that he was sending a message to a friend on social media who has the same surname, Tantawi, as the presidential candidate.
