This year’s Met Gala was attended by a memorable guest list of musicians including Bad Bunny, Lana Del Rey, Dua Lipa, Janelle Monáe, and Cardi B, but Katy Perry was not among them. However, AI-generated photos of the singer on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art fooled many people into thinking otherwise — including her own mother.
AI renderings of Perry “attending” the annual event quickly went viral on Monday night, purportedly showing the artist wearing a billowing floral gown that would have fit with the dress code of “The Garden of Time.” So many social media users were tricked into thinking she went to the Met Gala that Perry herself had to debunk the images.
“Couldn’t make it to the MET, had to work,” Perry clarified in the caption of an Instagram carousel featuring two of the fake photos. She also shared a text message from her mother, Mary Hudson: “Didn’t know you went to the Met. What a gorgeous gown, you look like the Rose Parade, you are your own float.”
Perry responded, “lol mom the AI got you, too, BEWARE.” Check out the Instagram post below.
It’s worth noting that Perry was among 200 artists who recently signed an open letter calling for tech platforms and streaming services to stop using AI to “infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.”
Katy Perry wasn’t the only celebrity who went viral for AI-generated photos this year. Purported images of Rihanna and Lady Gaga also circulated widely on social media.
This isn’t the first time a fake image from Met Gala has tricked Twitter. A purported photo of Jason Derulo tumbling down the stairs at the event first went viral in 2015 and still circulates nearly every year despite being long debunked. With AI now more accessible, the problem will only become more rampant.