Perfect illusion: Viral images don’t show Lady Gaga at 2024 Met Gala

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.

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.

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We rate the claim that these images show Lady Gaga at the 2024 Met Gala Pants on Fire!

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