Is this a real video of the woman who stabbed someone in NYC dancing with a pair of knives? No, that’s not true: The clip is a digitally manipulated version of a video posted to Britney Spears’ Instagram account in September 2023. Although the clip replaces Spears with a different person, the background, down to the little dogs running around her feet, is the same as in the original.
The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) by the @TodaysNewsco account on X on Sept. 2, 2026. It read:
🚨 NEWS ALERT
🇺🇸 Footage is circulating online showing the woman accused of killing Bank of America Vice President Erin Piacenti in Times Square, reportedly recorded before the fatal attack.
This is what a screenshot of the video in the post looked like at the time of writing:
Image source: post by @TodaysNewsco on X.
The video is embedded below:
Britney Spears
The clip above is a digitally manipulated version of a video (archived here) that Britney Spears posted to her Instagram account on Sept. 25, 2023. It read:
I started playing in the kitchen with knives today 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️ !!! Don’t worry they are NOT real knives !!! Halloween is soon 🙈🙈🙈 !!!
This is what a screenshot of the video in the post looked like at the time of writing:
Image source: post by @britneyspears on Instagram.
The video is embedded below:
Comparison
Side by side, the similarities between screenshots of the two videos are clear. An AI body swap has substituted the woman in the T-shirt and jeans for Spears. The images show the same room, furniture, flooring, and small white dogs:
Image sources: post by @britneyspears on Instagram and post by @TodaysNewsco on X.
Police shot and killed a woman (archived here) who was accused of randomly stabbing two people with two knives in Times Square in New York City on Aug. 31, 2026. One of the victims, a 32-year-old Bank of America employee, died in the attack.
A WABC story (archived here) on the attack is embedded below: