AI fakes of Trump and Epstein go viral onlinepublished at 16:39 British Summer Time
16:39 BST
Shayan Sardarizadeh
BBC Verify senior journalist
Image source, X
The ongoing controversy surrounding President Donald Trump administration’s handling of the release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has led to a number of fake videos and images of the two men together being widely shared online.
One video, which has been viewed over a million times on multiple social media platforms, features Trump and Epstein, along with several other men, at what appears to be a party featuring several young girls in white dresses.
But the video contains multiple errors often associated with generative AI, including oddly-shaped hands, clothes and distorted faces.
While the original source of the fake video is unclear, it’s most likely been generated using a real photo of Trump and Epstein captured at a Victoria’s Secret party, external in New York in 1997.
The real photo also features Belgian model Ingrid Seynhaeve, but she is not in the AI video. The young girls in white dresses in the fake video are also not seen in the genuine photo.
Another fake image of Trump and Epstein – viewed over 2.7 million times on X – shows the two men sitting on a sofa flanked by two young women. There are several clear issues with this image, including Epstein having no legs, six fingers on Trump’s left hand, a young woman with unusually long arms and a man with no eyes in the background.
The image has been debunked before by BBC Verify and other fact-checkers, but continues to be widely shared online regardless.