Vanity Fair France apologizes for censoring actor's Palestinian flag pin from film festival photo

Vanity Fair France apologized on social media on Sunday for censoring a Palestinian flag pin from a photo of actor Guy Pearce at the Cannes Film Festival.

X users called out the outlet for their photo of the "The Shrouds" actor that was taken during the French film festival which appeared to have omitted the pin that he was wearing during the event. 

"We have rectified our mistake and we apologize," the outlet wrote in French on X, in response to one user showing the same two images of Pearce side-by-side, one of them still having the pin on his tuxedo’s right lapel. 

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Actor Guy Pearce attends the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.  (Mondadori Portfolio / Contributor)

X user Ahmed Hathout alerted the internet to the discovery, sharing the almost identical images, along with a third, which was a zoomed-in photo of Pearce’s wristband that had Palestinian flag colors on it.

The activist captioned the photos, "So Guy Pearce showed solidarity with Palestine at Cannes by wearing a pin and Vanity Fair decided to photoshop it out. Little did they know the bracelet was also of the Palestinian flag colors."

The post went viral, acquiring nearly 5 million views in a few days. In a subsequent comment, the user wrote, "You should be f------ ashamed @VanityFair but let this be a lesson that you’ll never be able to silence us."

The outlet’s X account said in response to the viral post, "Good evening. We have mistakenly published a modified version of this photo on the site. The original version was posted on Instagram the same day. We have rectified our mistake and we apologize."

Since the controversy, Pearce posted a pro-Palestinian/anti-Benjamin Netanyahu message on his own X account. 

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A protester holds a Palestinian flag as students rally on Columbia University campus at a protest encampment, despite a 2 p.m. deadline issued by university officials to disband or face suspension, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City, April 29, 2024.  (REUTERS/David Dee Delgado)

It read, "Palestinians are being murdered as we speak. Displaced, traumatised, ruined. The lives and futures of Palestinian children are being eradicated by a vengeful tyrant. He MUST be stopped. This MUST stop. SHAME on you Netanyahu. #CeaseFire #FreePalestine."

Earlier this month, Pierce shared an image of himself on X wearing a scarf with the Palestinian colors. He captioned it, stating, "History. Humanity. It’s not hard to know how to find your moral centre."

Vanity Fair parent company Condé-Nast did not reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Wearing Palestinian flag pins has been a trend at Hollywood award shows following the start of Israel’s war in Gaza.

At the Oscars red carpet in March, pop star Billie Eilish, her brother, the musician Finneas, and actor Mark Ruffalo were among the many stars calling for a cease-fire in the Middle East who sported a pin with a red hand symbol.

However, the Israeli government and other critics called out these celebrities for wearing what they believe is a "symbol of bloodlust" that was canonized in its culture from a bloody lynching almost 25 years ago.

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Fox News Digital’s Hannah Grossman and Maria Lencki contributed to this report.

Gabriel Hays is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.