Did Will Smith use AI to fake concert crowds with videos? We looked into it

Claim:

The video posted on Will Smith's official social media account shows authentic shots of entertainer songs on his 2025 concert tour.

evaluation:

What's true

The video consisted of real clips of Smith's song at a concert during his “True Story” 2025 tour, along with cloud shots featuring AI manipulation. but …

What's wrong

…The crowds users have asked and reported by prominent news outlets have shown people who truly exist. One or more unknown people used AI tools to turn real stills into short video clips to “bring” some professional still photos from Smith's concert. Combining YouTube's recently revealed visual quality of YouTube shorts with an effort to call “traditional machine learning technology,” AA's video manipulation from this photo has raised users questioning the credibility of Smith's videos.

What has not been decided

Snopes has not yet determined whether Smith has approved the decision to generate a short video clip from still photos of the crowd.

Rumors circulated online in late August 2025 claimed that Will Smith's official social media account had shared a video showing authentic shots of one or more celebrities singing from a recent concert.

At the time, Smith was busy putting together the remaining European dates on his “based on a true story” tour a few months after the March release of his new album of the same name. Rumors claiming scenes of AI-generated crowds have been inserted into video footage from the tour that was sowed about Smith's popularity.

For example, a single X-user post (archive) that has received over 9 million views contains a clip. Other users shared videos and claims from Bluesky (Archives), Facebook (Archives), Instagram (Archives), Reddit (Archives), Thread (Archives), X (Archives) (Archives).

Notable news outlets such as CNET, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Mail, Futurism, The Independent, The International Business Times, Mashable, and Rolling Stone are all reported on this rumour. However, many of these sources have failed to report that Smith's videos portrayed real people and that the reality in question involves using AI to generate short video clips from professionally-like still images.

The “complex” reality of Ai-Enhanced videos

Andy Bio, a blogger at waxy.org, has researched the video in a painstaking manner, but concluded that some of the audience shots from Smith's video feature clips generated by AI, but show people who really attended Smith's concert. Baio has found authentic, professional still photos that match some of the estimated AI clips. With that discovery, he concluded that someone would use AI tools to bring those stills to life and generate short video clips from still images.

Combined with YouTube's recently revealed efforts to enhance the visual quality of YouTube shorts, the company's spokesman, labelled “traditional machine learning technology,” was combined with the efforts to combine some users who are believed to be a safe way to showcase artificial intelligence without mentioning AI, and some users who are believed to be introduced to Smith's Ai.

Online photos and videos showed that at least some of the dates of Smith's concert featured a packed home with a enthusiastic crowd. What helped dispel the circulating narrative with comments on social media claiming recording artists struggle to fill their seats continues with inadequate perspectives on his new album and slapsing stand-up comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards. At the time of this writing, all Smith's last three concerts in England displayed a “sold out” message.

“Bio wrote in a survey of Smith's videos.”We can discuss the ethics of animating photos in this way using inter-image models, but I think it's meaningfully different from what most people accused of doing Will Smith here.

In an email to Snopes, Baio also added reports from the aforementioned news media outlet. “It's frustrating that mainstream outlets amplify misinformation based solely on random social media posts, but to be fair, the use of AI tools here is something that some people include professional writers.

Tiktok user @showtoolsai – an account owned by a user who says he promotes AI literacy in Bio – has looked into Smith's concert video and reached the same conclusion as Baio. The user added a video of Smith. “This was not noticed for two weeks, but I think it's a poor example of editing and surveillance after the story exploded as part of the Will Smith Spiral story.”

I contacted Smith's representative and asked questions about this issue. This involves examining whether Smith has approved the decision to generate still images into short video clips and updating this story if more information is received.

Analyze the image

On August 12th, someone who manages Smith's social media accounts posted a video in question on Facebook (Archives), Instagram (Archives), and YouTube (Archives). The caption read the post, “My favorite part of the tour is to be meeting up close. Thank you for meeting me too.”

As Baio pointed out in his story, the video begins with a real clip showing Smith singing his new song, “You Can Make It” in a packed house at a concert at the Théâtre Antique D'Orange, held in Orange, France on July 31 or August 1. The video then cycles through a series of cloud shots. This includes at least some created by using AI tools to convert stills into short video clips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-4de-zntt4

One shot from Smith's video shows a sign that he is essentially reading “I Will Always Love You.”

Still frames from rogue video clips that display facial expressions generated in exaggerated AI. (Wilsmith/Instagram)

Smith's team posted an original, authentic yet still photo that corresponds to the AI's generated clips on August 6th at their Instagram slideshow.

A real photo posted on Smith's account. (Wilsmith/Instagram)

As evidenced by a still photo from another slideshow seen in the crowd at Smith's July 23 concert in Switzerland, the possibly generated clip of a woman holding a sign that reads “Please bring us back to Bel Air to Bel Air” really shows the real people and signs.

Still images from potentially AI-generated video clips. (Wilsmith/Instagram)

This authentic photo shows the same person and the visible center left, confirming that they really exist. (Wilsmith/Instagram)

After clips showing views of people holding signs referring to “West Philly” and “West Swissy” (in Switzerland) (including the worst examples of AI-generated faces undergoing appearance (a common feature of shots of AI-bred crowds) – born from photos hosted on the same slideshow.

This particular video clip, still shown in the frame, demonstrated one of the best examples of distorted faces that are commonly seen in cloud shots created by AI. (Wilsmith/Instagram)

Real still images. (Wilsmith/Instagram)

Skip a few shots and the clips generated in one AI helped “'You can make it'” survive the cancer. “THXWill” shows a man and a woman holding a sign.

Still frames from clips generated by short AI during Smith's video. (Wilsmith/Instagram)

Again, the video clips that manipulate AI depicted real people. Smith's Instagram account hosted two real photos of the same man and woman holding an autograph at a July 19 concert in Bern, Switzerland. As Baio stated in his report, the second half of the real video showed the same couple, further confirming them as people who exist in real life.

A real image showing two people who have real signs of cancer survival. (Wilsmith/Instagram)

Second authentic photo of the same couple and sign. (Wilsmith/Instagram)

The full report from Baio includes details on the issue of YouTube shorts that helps instigate the flames of misinformation, including a comparison showing the difference between the way Instagram and YouTube handled Smith's videos. Essentially, YouTube handles Smith's videos with a glossy, blurry finish, and the clips can look even more cheating. A YouTube spokesperson said the company is planning to “opt-out” alleged extensions.

To read more about social media rumors wrong, we previously I looked it up The false and unfounded claims about the Meijer supermarket chain allegedly fired a 16-year-old deli worker who consumed food with autism. We too It has been reported The murder suspect's lawyer has described how unused footage from an earlier episode of the HBO television series Curb Your Everism did not actually function as a major factor in saving clients from prison.

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