Did two climbers really hold up a banner against transwomen at the Empire State Building? Fact Check
Claim: Video purportedly shows two people on the Empire State Building holding a banner reading “TRANS WOMEN ARE MEN!”
Conclusion: The claim is Misrepresentation. The viral video with a different banner text was generated using Grok Imagine by referring/taking the authentic footage from July 1, 2026, which actually shows climbers Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus displaying a peace banner reading, “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace,” before Beerkus proposed to Nikolau. They were later arrested for this stunt.
Rating: Misrepresentation 
Several social media users have shared a clip where two climbers can be seen holding a banner : “Trans Women are Men”. Verified X user ‘Ravious101’ shared such a clip with the caption : “BREAKING: Something is happening right now at the Empire State Building! Sorry Not Sorry!!!!” Attached to the post is a 10 second clip which allegedly captures this act. The post gained over 4.3 million views and can be seen below –
BREAKING: Something is happening right now at the Empire State Building! Sorry Not Sorry!!!! pic.twitter.com/tWouD4znE6
— Victor Bigham 🇺🇸 (@Ravious101) July 1, 2026
Other users have shared different variations of this which can be seen here and here with banners reading “ELON WE LOVE YOU” and “MICHELLE OBAMA IS A MAN” respectively.
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found it to be Misrepresentation. The viral clip was created using Grok Imagine. Verified footage from July 1, 2026, instead captures climbers Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus unfurling a banner that read, “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace,” after which Beerkus proposed to Nikolau. Following the stunt, both were taken into police custody and later arrested.
Details:
We analyzed the video and found the label “Made with Grok Imagine” displayed at the bottom, indicating that it was generated using AI.
Next, we conducted a web search with the phrase “couple climbs up Empire State Building” to learn about the actual event. According to a USA Today report, two climbers were seen atop New York City’s Empire State Building on July 1, 2026, displaying a banner that read, “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.” The pair identified themselves on social media as Russian daredevil climbers Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, the stars of the 2024 documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story.
Another report by NBC New York stated that the two climbers spent “nearly an hour” atop the Empire State Building, where the “dangerous trespassing stunt”. The report further notes that it culminated in what “appeared to be an act of love” as one seemingly proposed after the pair embraced on a platform. Both of them were arrested, view a screenshot of the actual banner they were holding from the footage embedded by NBC.
The moment of the proposal has been uploaded by NBC on their Instagram page which can be seen here.
Reuters also covered the incident, publishing photographs from the scene and additional details. The report notes that the couple was charged with “several offenses, including burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, criminal tampering, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, according to an NYPD spokesperson.”
FOX4NEWS too covered the incident and captured the video as seen below:
🚨 BREAKING: 2 people have climbed the Empire State Building in New York to fly a flag. The flag reads “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.” pic.twitter.com/YrIudqf9Lx
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) July 1, 2026
Extensive searches for the banner shown in the claim yield zero coverage of a “TRANS WOMEN ARE MEN!” banner or anti-trans protest at the Empire State Building. Other claims shared with videos showing banners like “ELON WE LOVE YOU” and “MICHELLE OBAMA IS A MAN” are also totally false and AI generated.
Thus, the claim is Misrepresentation.
