What was Claimed
The 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony featured a giant figure of death holding a needle.
Our Verdict
False. The figure was the wand-wielding nemesis of Harry Potter, Voldemort.
A needle-waving death figure at the 2012 Olympics was part of a predictive programming push in advance of the COVID pandemic, social media users are claiming.
This is false. The figure was actually Harry Potter’s nemesis, Voldemort, featured in a scene at the 2012 opening ceremony celebrating British children’s literature.
The “needle” is the Dark Lord’s wand.
A number of Facebook posts claim that a dark omen appeared at the 2012 curtain-raiser.
“The opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London featured a giant figure of death holding a needle, with doctors and nurses dancing like zombies around children in hospital beds,” the posts' captions say.
Some posts falsely claim the figure is the “Grim Reaper”, while others allege the scene is a “masonic ritual in preparation of the mass culling that was to come”.
Many posts insinuate the act foretold the COVID pandemic and vaccine rollout, while others suggest it's an example of “predictive programming” – a theory that governments or other bodies use fiction (e.g. movies, books) for large-scale mind control.
The footage is from the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, directed by Oscar-winning film director Danny Boyle.
The particular scene paid tribute to Britain’s health service (the NHS) as well as the nation's contribution to children’s literature.
Official video of the ceremony shows hundreds of dancing and roller-skating nurses and doctors pushing children around in beds (44 minutes 3 seconds).
The camera cuts to a child reading under the covers (48:38) and Harry Potter author JK Rowling then appears, reading an extract from Peter Pan before several fictional villains enter the stadium.
Among them are the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Cruella De Vil from One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Voldemort from the Harry Potter series.
But rather than holding a needle, Potter’s nemesis is holding his wand (50:25).
The claim has also been debunked by Reuters.
The Verdict
The claim that the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony featured a giant figure of death holding a needle is false.
The figure was actually Harry Potter's arch-villain Lord Voldemort, grasping his wand.
The Dark Lord was featured as part of a segment celebrating British children’s literature.
False — The claim is inaccurate.
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