R Kelly ‘prison concert’ sparks outrage as pics go viral – but all is not as it seems

R Kelly

 R Kelly ‘prison concert’ sparks outrage as pics go viral – but all is not as it seems

A series of pictures appearing to show jailed singer R. Kelly performing a concert in prison sparked outrage after going viral.

The disgraced R&B star is serving 31 years behind bars for offences including assaults on underage girls, sex trafficking and racketeering.

So when four images emerged on Tuesday, appearing to show the 56-year-old performing to thousands of inmates wearing orange jumpsuits in a correctional facility, it sent the internet into meltdown.

But it transpired that the images are deepfakes created using AI (artificial intelligence) technology.

In September 2021, Kelly was jailed for 30 years after being found guilty of eight counts of sex trafficking and one of racketeering in a New York court.

The following year, in September 2022, he was convicted of child sexual abuse at a second federal trial in Chicago.

Now deepfakes have come to light showing Kelly wearing an orange leather jacket and singing onstage in prison, with thousands of inmates gathering for the ‘concert’.

The final two shots showed the rapper in a prison orange hood and surrounded by five men as he seemed to be walking to a show.

One person on Twitter wrote: “Wow, who knew being a criminal could boost your music career?”

Another joked: “His tickets [are] cheap too, only cost 3 felonies for front row seats.”

A third added: “Aaah! I’ve seen enough in this world.”

AI-generated images are created using machine learning algorithms, analysing existing pictures.

With a slew of deepfake images cropping up across the internet, the authenticity of the Bump n’ Grind artist’s pictures was immediately questioned.

Later on Tuesday, MandyNews were quick to debunk claims that the images were real.

After their investigation, the outlet wrote: “We confirm that the claims surrounding R. Kelly’s alleged prison concert are false.”

One person wrote: “I see why people saying the AI s**t is dangerous now.”

A third studious person Tweeted: “AI generated images. Not real.”

Another wrote “Learning to discern between AI and real life is something many [people] will have to adapt to, or they’ll fall for any piece of news placed before them.”

It’s not the first time an AI deep fake photo has fooled the internet.

Last month, a picture of Pope Francis seemingly wearing a white puffer jacket and bejeweled crucifix went viral after being posted to Reddit.

Model Chrissy Teigen Tweeted: “I thought the pope’s puffer jacket was real and didn’t give it a second thought. No way am I surviving the future of technology.”

Initially duping the online world, it emerged that the image was AI generated using software, Midjourney.

NOTE: As a responsible news outlet, BABA NEWS will continue to fact-check and verify the authenticity of such claims to provide our readers with accurate and reliable information.

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