‘Melania’ ticket sales didn’t beat ’Star Wars’
A social media user posted new information about “Melania,” the recently released documentary about First Lady Melania Trump.
The Feb. 1 Facebook post includes a screenshot that appears to show White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Fox News, with the text on the screen reading, “LEAVITT: ‘THE FIRST LADY’S MOVIE SOLD MORE TICKETS THAN STAR WARS.’”
Above the image, the user wrote, “I was not aware.”
Apparently, no one was aware, because this post is fake, according to Lead Stories. The claim is satire. The post was shared on other platforms, and some commenters appeared to believe it was an accurate screenshot, while questioning the claim.
But Leavitt didn’t say this on Fox News, and no other news organizations reported it as true. The user created the image to appear as a screenshot using the Fox News logo.
In a post the next day, the user reposted the same image with a new comment.
“Sure it's my satire. But they believe it. I'm sure,” the Feb. 2 post said.
“Melania” brought in $7 million in its opening weekend, surpassing expectations, according to NBC News.
Detained child not part of Bad Bunny show
Singer Bad Bunny delivered the halftime concert during the Feb. 8 Super Bowl. During the show, he walked over to a 5-year-old boy and handed the boy a Grammy award.
Some social media users claimed that the boy at the concert was Liam Conejo Ramos, the child taken, along with his father, into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, officers. But those posts have misidentified the boy, according to The Associated Press. Appearing with Bad Bunny at halftime was child actor Lincoln Fox Ramadan.
A post on Lincoln’s Instagram account showed him at the performance accepting the Grammy from Bad Bunny.
“An emotional, unforgettable day being cast as the young Benito — a symbolic moment where the future hands the past a Grammy,” the post read. “A reminder that dreams come true and that it’s never too early to dream big.”
On Jan. 20, Liam Conejo Ramos, and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, taken to Texas, and returned to Minneapolis following a judge’s order.
Columbia Heights Public Schools spokesperson Kristen Stuenkel told the AP that Liam was not part of the halftime show.
“(Superintendent Zena) Stenvik has indicated that the child is not Liam. Liam and his family are sequestered during this time,” Stuenkel said.
New Epstein pic is AI
Recent social media posts claim to show convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019, walking around in Israel.
Two posts included images of a man, with a resemblance to Epstein, sporting sunglasses, long gray hair and a gray beard, walking between two other men. Those two posts amassed more than 10 million views.
“Epstein is still alive and walking the streets of Tel Aviv,” read one Feb. 5 X post. A different X post read, “Someone who looks like Jeffrey Epstein was JUST SPOTTED walking in Tel Aviv, Israel. Could this really be him? It’s literally him.”
No, it’s literally not him, according to PolitiFact. The photos were created using artificial intelligence, or AI. The images include a logo of Gemini, Google’s AI chatbot, in the corner. However, many users cropped out the logo before posting.
The doctored images were originally posted in a Reddit forum called “hardaiimages,” which asks readers to “post your funny, hard AI images here.”
The user who posted those images responded to the misinformation.
“You can see the Gemini logo at the bottom right of each picture. I didn't think it would become so viral,” the user said.
Earthquake video is fake
A man in a Jan. 29 video is upset because his meal is disrupted.
“Man isn’t happy after minor earthquake in Toronto yesterday spills his fries at McDonald’s!,” read the text at the top of a video.
In that 14-second video, the man is holding a hamburger when his table, and everything in the restaurant, begins to shake. The tray eventually falls off the table, dumping his fries and his drink on the floor. The man appears to throw up his arms in disgust, while still holding the burger.
It’s a fun clip for the viewers, but it didn’t actually happen, according to Lead Stories. The video was created using artificial intelligence, or AI.
Lead Stories uploaded the video into an AI-generated content detection tool, which returned a score of 95.6% that the clip was created using AI.
There are signs that the video was AI, including a garbled timestamp, no liquid spills out of the dropped drink, no reaction from other customers in the restaurant and the hamburger the man is holding changes shape. It looks more like a hot dog than a hamburger by the end of the clip.
• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.