An Award-Winning Photo Is Facing Controversy — What Happened to "Napalm Girl"?

When we think of the Vietnam War, many picture images that flashed across people's television screens for the first time. It's often referred to as America's first television war because camera crews were constantly filming war zones which finally gave American citizens an accurate and horrifying idea of what was really happening in Vietnam.

On April 1, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson announced he wouldn't run for reelection. He spoke about the atrocities of Vietnam glowing brightly on the screens of American television sets. "No one can say exactly what effect those vivid scenes have on American opinion," he said. There were also haunting still images coming out of this war, such as that of the young child whose terrified photo would be known as "Napalm Girl." What happened to the photo and its subject? Here's what we know.

In 1973, the World Press Photo organization named "Napalm Girl" photo of the year, thus solidifying it as one of the more defining images to come out of the Vietnam War, per CNN. Decades later, its origin story has come under fire as World Press Photo questions who actually took the picture. In May 2025, they announced their decision to suspend the attribution to retired AP photographer Nick Ut, citing a report that suggested Vietnamese freelance photographer Nguyen Thanh Nghe actually took it.

This reveal comes on the heels of a documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025. Titled The Stringer, it claims Nguyen was the man behind the lens who captured that heartbreaking moment on June 8, 1972. According to the film, Nguyen was stationed at a highway checkpoint outside the village of Trang Bang along with over a dozen other individuals. It alleges that Nguyen was able to sell the photo before editors stepped in and falsely credited Nick.

Nick has repeatedly denied these allegations and released a statement via his attorney, Jim Hornstein, who called the accusations "deplorable and unprofessional." It goes on to say that Nguyen's claim is "unsupported by a scintilla of corroborating evidence or eyewitness." The AP launched its own investigation which involved eyewitness interviews, examination of cameras, a 3D model of the scene, and surviving photo negatives. They found no evidence that justified a change.

Almost five decades after the photograph was taken, The New York Times spoke with its subject in June 2022. Kim Phuc Phan Thi said she only had "flashes of memories" from that day. One moment she was playing with her cousins and the next, the frightened 9-year-old was running naked down a dirt road. She was covered in napalm and recalled how much it burned. "Nick changed my life forever with that remarkable photograph," she said.

The photographer snapped the photo, then wrapped Phuc in a blanket, carrying her somewhere she could receive medical attention. Years later, she was haunted by that photo and resentful of how vulnerable she was. "I am a little girl. I am naked," she said. "Why did he take that picture? Why didn’t my parents protect me?" Years later Kim was embarrassed of her scars, but dutifully sat through countless interviews as Nick grew more famous.

Phuc eventually moved to Canada which is where she found her true purpose, creating The Kim Foundation, which helps children in war-torn countries. "I know what it is like to have your village bombed, your home devastated, to see family members die and bodies of innocent civilians lying in the street," she explained. Although the photo is a reminder of what the worst of humanity can do, Phuc believes "hope and forgiveness will always be more powerful than any kind of weapon."