Guys, it’s not him! The hilarious truth behind *that* viral photo of Banksy

Everyone has gone into meltdown after a photo of the mysterious artist Banksy was exposed for the first time ever. But it turns out, it’s not actually him.

The photo has been plastered all over social media, which shows a very normal-looking man with grey hair and sunglasses standing next to a Banksy mural. “BREAKING: Street Artist Banksy has FINALLY been unmasked,” one viral tweet says. Another adds: “Well, there’s Banksy if anyone cares.”

It’s everywhere after a new report published by Reuters on 13th March allegedly unmasked the world-famous artist as Robin Gunningham, a 51-year-old British man from Bristol.

Credit: SWNS

This name has been circling the internet for years, but journalists found a previously undisclosed police report from when Banksy was arrested in New York in 2000 for defacing a billboard, which seemingly proves his real name once and for all.

Pictures of this grey-haired man are all over social media alongside the name Robin Gunningham, but one of the three Reuters journalists who broke the news told The Tab it’s not him! And the truth is hilarious.

James Pearson told The Tab the man everyone thinks is Banksy is not Robin Gunningham at all. It’s a random Greek-Cypriot builder from London who was incorrectly identified as the mysterious artist by tabloids a few years ago.

“You’ll note that Reuters did not include this story in the investigation, because it’s not him,” he said.

Credit: SWNS

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The man was spotted at a Banksy mural in Finsbury Park in March 2024, and an anonymous witness said he had a “striking resemblance” to an old rumoured photo of Banksy they had seen.

“I have been going to the mural for whole week. On Saturday there was more security fences and CCTV up and a few people putting up Perspex over the artwork. I went back at 10am to go have another look at what they were doing and saw this man who looks exactly like the photo I saw 20 years ago of Banksy,” they said, via SWNS.

“I found it weird he was putting up his own Perspex. The people putting it up weren’t wearing council uniforms or anything, one was wearing a Nirvana t-shirt. He must have been there for hours.”

Credit: SWNS

Here’s the picture of Banksy that was supposedly leaked 10 to 15 years ago, and it does look strangely like the man who was next to the mural. But it must just be a strange coincidence.

So, Banksy’s name might have been confirmed after all these years, but his face remains a mystery. And a random builder is probably sitting in his London flat in hysterics right now because the whole world thinks he’s Banksy.

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Featured image credit: SWNS