A video of bikini-clad women leading worship in a church has been making rounds on many social media platforms including YouTube, X(formerly Twitter) and Facebook since the beginning of 2023.
In the trending video that social media users have since condemned, these female singers were dressed in brasseries and panties only while leading the church during a worship and parties session. pic.twitter.com/zOypqQ2LZK
— S H E G X D B A D G U Y (@Boitzar) November 3, 2023
One of these videos on YouTube (here) has gathered over 1 million views and 2,000 likes. Many of the handles who have shared the video on social media believed it to be true, with some bemoaning the drop in moral standards even in the church.
Fact-Check Ghana has verified the video and present the facts below.
Explanation
Using a reverse image search of frames from the video, Fact-Check Ghana discovered that the video has been in circulation since April 2023.
The team’s checks revealed that the video was first published on YouTube on February 24 by a channel called Blinks TV. The video was subsequently published on the TikTok page (@pastorblinks) of the same channel.
After reviewing the channels, Fact-Check Ghana realised that the social media pages belong to a content creator called Pastor Blinks who produces provocative skits which he hopes will educate the public on the activities of fake pastors. The viral video of women in bikinis leading worship in a Church is one such provocative video. For instance, on YouTube, the video was shared on the Blinks TV channel with the hashtags #fakepastors #trynottolaugh #twimovies #ghanaianmovies. On Tiktok, the account shared the video with the caption, “Beware of force [sic] teaching”.
The description on the Pastor Blinks Tiktok account says he’s a “Film actor and music artist”. Thus, the person behind the viral video is not a pastor and does not hold himself as one.
The Blinks TV YouTube channel has published many videos, short skits and movies produced on the narrative of showcasing the activities of fake pastors.
For instance, on June 2, 2020, the YouTube account published a movie in which Pastor Blinks was seen taking down a woman’s underwear in front of a supposed congregation. On YouTube, the video has 96K views and 521 likes. A popular Kumawood actress Agnes Annan, also known as Maame Fante, featured in the film.
Fact-Check Ghana’s verification also led the team to an interview Pastor Blinks, known in private life as Mark Mensah, granted to Kumasi-based Hello FM. In the interview, he said he films these videos to educate people about false pastors and not to discredit Christianity.
“All that I have been doing is a movie, and I am called Pastor Blinks. These are some of the things fake men of God have done, so I am trying to make the public aware of them so that they become careful,” he said.
From the above, it is clear that the viral video of women in bikinis singing at a church is a skit produced for social media platforms and not an incident that happened at a real church.
