Has Banksy been unmasked? New report claims to reveal artist’s true identity

A new report has claimed to have finally revealed the real-life identity of Banksy.

The anonymous street art icon has never confirmed his real name or identity, sparking decades-long speculation about the person behind some of Britain’s most recognisable modern artworks.

Now, an extensive investigation by Reuters claims to have established “beyond dispute” the man behind the art. Their work is centred around a trip he made to Ukraine, alongside photographs by former collaborators and even a confession note stemming from an arrest in New York in 2000.

All their evidence suggests that Banksy is Robin Gunningham, a name first linked to the artist by the Mail on Sunday in 2008, although they say he changed his name to David Jones years ago.

It also claims that Gunningham made the 2022 trip to Ukraine with Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja, who has previously faced speculation that he was the real Banksy.

Banksy’s long-time lawyer Mark Stephens has said that the artist “does not accept that many of the details contained within [the] enquiry are correct”.

Stephens claimed that the story would also “violate the artist’s privacy, interfere with his art and put him in danger”, and that “working anonymously or under a pseudonym serves vital societal interests.”

“It protects freedom of expression by allowing creators to speak truth to power without fear of retaliation, censorship or persecution,” said Stephens.

In response, however, Reuters said that “the public has a deep interest in understanding the identity and career of a figure with his profound and enduring influence on culture, the art industry and international political discourse.”

Last year, a new artwork from Banksy appeared outside the High Court in London. The graffiti mural was first spotted in September of 2025 and shows a judge swinging a gavel as they attack someone lying on the floor, holding a sign covered in blood.

Though Banksy stopped short of revealing the meaning – and rarely comments on the inspirations behind his own work – the new mural has been widely interpreted as a comment more than 900 arrests that were made at the time during a pro-Palestine rally in London.

The artwork was later removed, though an outline of the work in its original shape can still be seen.