This Video Doesn’t Show Celine Dion in a Wheelchair at Her Son’s Wedding

This video shows Kathy Poirier suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and not the singer, Celine Dion.

Rujuta Thete
WebQoof
Published:
<div class="paragraphs"><p>Fact-check:&nbsp;A video showing a woman on wheelchair at her son's wedding is not singer Celine Dion.</p></div>
i

Fact-check: A video showing a woman on wheelchair at her son's wedding is not singer Celine Dion.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

advertisement

A video showing a woman in a wheelchair dancing at a wedding is going viral on social media with a claim that it shows Canadian singer Celine Dion being helped by her children to dance at her son's wedding.

Last year, Dion revealed getting diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, a progressive neurological and autoimmune disease that can set off muscle spasms and causes extreme muscle tightness.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

Is that really Dion?: No, the video shows Kathy Poirier from Florida, USA at her son's wedding in 2022.

  • Poirier suffers from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

How did we find out the truth?: We divided the video into multiple keyframes and performed a reverse image search on some of them which led us to several reports from 2022.

  • A report published by The Indian Express on 24 May 2022 carried screenshots from the viral video.

  • The article stated that the woman seen in the video is Kathy Poirier, who lost the ability to walk after she got diagnosed with ALS.

  • It added that she danced at her son's wedding at Ever After Farms Blueberry Wedding Barns in Florida, US.

  • We also found a similar video, from a different angle, uploaded on Instagram by the wedding planners 'Roots and Stems' on 11 April 2022.

  • The text on the video mentioned that Zak danced with his mom at his wedding, which surprised the guests.

Kathy Poirier's interview: We found another report by Fox News which included quotes from Poirier about her experience with ALS and her son's wedding.

  • It mentioned that her three sons supported her and helped her to dance at the wedding.

  • We found a video interview of Poirier uploaded on YouTube by Good Morning America, an American television program, on 27 July 2022.

  • In the interview, she says that she felt the symptoms in 2018 and was later diagnosed with ALS.

  • "Once I got on the dance floor, I knew my boys had me," she adds.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Kathy Poirier's statement: The Quint reached out to Poirier who confirmed that the viral video shows her with her sons.

Reports about Dion's health: Dion shared a video on her official Instagram page on 8 December 2022.

  • In the video, she talks about being diagnosed with 'stiff person syndrome'.

  • There have been no recent reports about Dion being unable to walk and being shifted to a wheelchair, as the viral video claims.

  • The singer has three sons – René-Charles (21) and 11-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy – but none of them are married yet.

Conclusion: A video showing a woman on wheelchair at her son's wedding is not singer Celine Dion.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)

(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)

Published: undefined

ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL FOR NEXT