And the theme for this year’s Met Gala is 'Deepfakes?' This year, a tech twist infiltrated the red carpet of the prestigious annual fashion event with AI-manipulated fake images of many stars circulating online. Regular Met attendees like Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and more, who decided not to grace this year's red carpet due to personal reasons, suddenly bloomed at 'Garden of Time' thanks to these fake images that attempted to deceive the public and, to some extent, succeeded.

Rihanna skips Met Gala but not her fake photos

Fans were eagerly anticipating seeing Queen RiRi and A$AP Rocky at the Gala night in stunning outfits; however, the singer was sidelined by the flu, leading to her absence. Instead, AI-generated fake photos of her started circulating all over social media, with one even garnering over 2 million views. The photo perfectly matched this year's theme and left little room for doubt. However, reports of her illness soon surfaced, debunking the claims. These synthetic looks were a bit too straightforward, lacking creativity, but since Rihanna mentioned earlier that she would take a low-key approach this year, some still believed in their authenticity.

Katy Perry Met Gala deep fakes surface

Katy Perry, who chose not to walk the red carpet this year due to work commitments, also fell victim to these fake images. The singer was caught off guard when her mother sent her the photo, mistakenly believing Perry was attending the Gala. Her mother complimented her look, praising how stunning she appeared on Met’s staircase until Perry revealed the truth that she had been deceived by the scammers. Reacting to her mother’s image she said, "lol mom the AI got you too, BEWARE!" A short while later, another user on X posted a new image of Perry. This time, her lips were a bit pouty, and she was wearing a beautiful bronze corset that looked like the perfect key to the gala’s garden theme.

Lady Gaga’s fake Met Gala pictures surface

Following the deepfakes of Katy Perry and Rihanna, even Lady Gaga wasn't spared. Images of Gaga in an unbelievably out-of-the-box outfit flooded social media. However, unlike the other stars, Gaga's history of pushing boundaries with her Met Gala appearances almost made the deepfake believable. With floral patterns dominating this year’s trend, scammers tried their best to dupe fans to get likes and shares. But, thanks to the loyal fans of the singer who were quick to suspect it wasn't real.

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