Photos circulating online and in some media outlets have misidentified Londoner of Greek descent George Georgiou, 69, as street artist Banksy following a Reuters report on the artist’s identity.
Some media outlets and others online have misidentified photos of a London man as the British street artist Banksy. The man, George Georgiou, [a Londoner of Greek descent who was born and raised in the city], is not Banksy.
Photos of Georgiou were published after a Reuters investigation last week revealed Banksy’s identity.
The March 13 Reuters special report made public for the first time documents that confirm Banksy is Robin Gunningham. Gunningham has since taken the name David Jones, Reuters determined. Banksy’s lawyer did not confirm or deny the artist’s identity.
Reporting the findings of the Reuters investigation, media outlets including the New York Post, Britain’s The Sun, and LADbible – along with widely viewed social media posts – published a photo of a grey-haired man in glasses and claimed or suggested that he was Gunningham.
Rather, he is Georgiou, a 69-year-old man from London. Reuters did not publish Georgiou’s photo with its investigation.
None of the news outlets that published photos of Georgiou responded to requests for comment from Reuters. The New York Post has removed the photo from the report on its website, a comparison with an archived article shows.
On March 18, Georgiou confirmed in a video call with Reuters that he is not Gunningham.
‘I’m not Banksy. I’m a maintenance man’
Georgiou is listed on Britain’s corporate registry as a former director of his son Alex’s estate agency business, through which Reuters first made contact.
In the video interview, Georgiou said he had received phone calls from up to 30 people a day about his mistaken identity in the last week, and the attention has grown to be “too much.”
“I’m not Banksy. I’m a maintenance man,” he said.
The viral miscaptioned photo was shot in late March 2024, when media first mistook Georgiou for the street artist.
Georgiou told the MailOnline, at the time – and recounted again in the video call with Reuters – that it shows him overseeing a plastic sheet installation over a Banksy mural. That mural had been defaced days after it first appeared on a north London property owned by Georgiou’s son.
Land registry deeds reviewed by Reuters confirm the building has been owned by the son, Alex Georgiou, for more than a decade.
Georgiou also denied being Banksy in the 2024 interview.
“It’s an old joke now,” he said to Reuters in Wednesday’s video call, adding that he’d like people “to get on with it now” and to be left alone.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.