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Perfect illusion: Viral images don’t show Lady Gaga at 2024 Met Gala
If Your Time is short
- Singer Lady Gaga did not attend the 2024 Met Gala. These photos were generated by artificial intelligence.
Did Lady Gaga wow attendees of New York’s 2024 Met Gala in two different flamboyant costumes? Or are they just a perfect illusion, to borrow the singer’s lyrics?
One viral May 5 Facebook post appears to show Lady Gaga in a coiled cream dress resembling New York City’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "MOTHER GAGA HAS ARRIVED!!!," the post’s caption said. Another May 7 Facebook post appears to show Lady Gaga posing for photos in a bejeweled green ball gown. The same images have been shared by several accounts, and also shared on Threads and Instagram.
The posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Threads, and Instagram.)
Although these costumes are stunning, there is one glaring problem: Lady Gaga did not attend the 2024 Met Gala. Several news outlets reported about the "Poker Face" singer’s absence on the cream-and-green carpet May 6.
There is also a timeline problem: the Met Gala was May 6, but the image of Lady Gaga in the cream dress was first shared on May 5.
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The images are generated by artificial intelligence, and Lady Gaga was not the only one targeted. PolitiFact has debunked similar claims about AI-generated photos of Rihanna and Katy Perry, neither of whom attended this year’s charity benefit.
Featured Fact-check
We rate the claim that these images show Lady Gaga at the 2024 Met Gala Pants on Fire!
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Our Sources
Elle, Why Lady Gaga Skipped the 2024 Met Gala, May 6, 2024
Harper's Bazaar, Why Lady Gaga Skipped the 2024 Met Gala, May 6, 2024
PolitiFact, No, this image doesn’t show Rihanna at the 2024 Met Gala
PolitiFact, AI-generated images of Katy Perry at 2024 Met Gala fool social media users, Perry’s mother, May 7, 2024
Facebook post (archived link), May 5, 2024
Facebook post (archived link), May 5, 2024
Facebook post (archived link), May 7, 2024
Threads post (archived link), May 6, 2024
Instagram post (archived link), May 9, 2024
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Perfect illusion: Viral images don’t show Lady Gaga at 2024 Met Gala
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