The Weird History Podcast

The Weird History Podcast


227 The Rasputin Disclaimer

August 11, 2021

Nearly every English-language movie has a disclaimer in the credits that says something like “This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.” Obviously this isn’t true. Historical epics, biopics, and other movies are clearly based on real people. Why does this disclaimer pretend otherwise?


The answer, it turns out, has a lot to do with Rasputin.