Will Smith is being roasted for saying he loves seeing fans “up close” in a promo video that many people claim is of an AI-generated crowd.
The 56-year-old rapper and actor kicked off the UK leg of his Based On a True Story tour on Sunday, with a second show hitting Cardiff yesterday.
Stops in Manchester, London, and Wolverhampton are coming up, but it’s the Instagram promo video ahead of the dates that’s really got people talking.
In what should have been a sweet sentiment, Will captioned the clip: “My favourite part of tour is seeing you all up close. Thank you for seeing me too”, with a red love heart emoji to round things off.
But speculation has been circling among fans in the days since the post, after people spotted some truly bizarre glitches in the background.
In parts of the clip, audience members look strangely distorted, with blurred faces and outstretched arms that Will seems to pass straight through.
One particularly puzzling scene shows a tearful man clutching a sign that reads: “You Can Make It helped me survive cancer. THX WILL.”
The scene that has left fans especially puzzled via @willsmith on Instagram
But even that emotional moment appears off. A woman standing in front of him looks like she’s holding his hand, while another fan’s headband cuts straight through her arm?
Needless to say, the comments section has been ruthless, with people branding the video “embarrassing”.
One Instagram user claimed: “Half of the footage is AI”, with another urging Will to “delete this video” because they allege “the AI shit is unacceptable”.
Over on Reddit, people have asked who’s running the star’s PR, claiming whoever’s behind the brand deals is “running this guy through the mud”.
Another commenter chose to value brevity, typing only: “Fresh cringe.”
Some fans have suggested it could just be “image upscaling gone horribly wrong”, or that AI might have been used to turn real images of fans into video footage.
The tour follows Will’s first studio album in 20 years, also titled Based On a True Story, which failed to chart in the UK and didn’t go down well with critics.
Although the live performances have reportedly gone well so far, the AI fan controversy comes during a period of uncertainty during Will’s acting career. And amidst it all, saying you love seeing fans up close to a possibly fake crowd isn’t exactly ideal.
Will Smith has been approached for comment.
For more like this, like The Tab on Facebook
Featured image via YouTube/Instagram
