The internet wigs out and experts weigh in on whether Justin Trudeau wore fake eyebrows
Justin Trudeau raised eyebrows with his grooming on June 7. Photo: Twitter
Last weekend’s G7 summit was riddled with acrimony, insults and a lack of decisions as US President Donald Trump and other world leaders traded barbs over trade.
Now, days on, a conspiracy theory has emerged from the summit as a late headline-grabber.
A 16-second video clip makes it appear as if Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was wearing fake eyebrows at a June 7 news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Posted to the internet, the video appears to show Mr Trudeau’s left eyebrow falling off his face.
Immediately, “Trudeau eyebrows” began trending on Google.
Twitter lit up with users speculating that the father-of-three, 46 – who has been regularly feted in the past for his style – relies on glued-on facial hair.
“Justin Trudeau is upset because he found out Donald Trump is putting up tariffs on fake eyebrows,” one user said.
https://twitter.com/TrudeasE/status/1005816403612577793
I can understand people joking a little about Trumps hair. It is pretty ridiculous, but Trudeau plastering on fake eyebrows at such an important event is insanity. How could his handlers even allow him to do this ? This is worse than his India trip.
— Brian Hickman (@SwankybTN) June 11, 2018
Others who weighed in were more sceptical that Mr Trudeau was faking it.
Online fact-checking website Snopes.com weighed into the wildfire buzz, saying the controversy sparked “a surprising amount of online coverage”.
It noted that some bits of “evidence” supporting the fake eyebrow theory were pushed forward by a Reddit group of Mr Trump supporters.
The verdict? The “phenomenon appears to be the result of lighting, not follicular fakery”, Snopes concluded.
It noted Mr Trudeau’s brows are thicker on the bottom and slightly darker on the underside: “In certain lighting conditions this combination can, apparently, make it appear as if the brow is misplaced.”
Brow specialist Michael Maiolo from Melbourne’s The Original House of Wax was more blunt.
“It’s just bad grooming,” he told The New Daily.
“He’s got horrible brows, very patchy and bushy in the middle, but they’re definitely real.
“If they were fake, they would be more symmetrical.”
Apart from better lighting, what Mr Trudeau needs is “a good trim and a brush”, Mr Maiolo said.
“His left brow is a lot lower and needs a lift. His suits are lovely but he needs some work on the eyebrows.”
Other images from the news conference showed Mr Trudeau’s eyebrows in their normal position on his face.
This afternoon in Ottawa, President @EmmanuelMacron and I met ahead of the @g7 to talk about how Canada & France can work together more closely to increase trade and create more jobs & opportunities for people on both sides of the Atlantic. pic.twitter.com/vWfVMa60RA
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) June 6, 2018
Snopes dug deeper, saying another clue is that Mr Trudeau “doesn’t acknowledge or react” to the supposedly slipping brow, “even though it would certainly be a moment of supreme embarrassment”.
He is also not seen “reattaching” his brow and kept talking for several minutes without his eyebrows coming further unglued.
This is the second time Mr Trudeau’s eyebrows have made news. In March 2017, the Independent made mention of his “dazzling brows” in a story headlined: ‘For the sake of democracy we must stop objectifying Justin Trudeau.’
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