Will Smith has responded to accusations that he used AI-generated footage of cheering crowds at his concerts by posting a new video on Instagram that replaces audience members with computer-generated cats. The 56-year-old actor and rapper captioned the clip: “Crowd was poppin’ tonite!!”
The original video, shared on Smith’s official YouTube channel, was titled “My favorite part of tour is seeing you all up close. Thank you for seeing me too.” Viewers quickly pointed out apparent AI artifacts, including blurred faces, distorted hands, and audience members appearing to have six fingers. One fan commented: “You can see many people in the crowd having six fingers or more, eyes smudged, faces are distorted.”
Smith’s parody video was met with supportive comments, with one fan joking: “Haters are gonna say this is AI” and another writing: “I love the way Will handles these haters lmao.” Questlove, drummer and documentary maker, commented: “That scared me.”
Smith kicked off the UK leg of his Based on a True Story tour in Scarborough on August 24, supporting his first album in two decades. The Independent gave the album a two-star review, calling Smith a “solid rapper” but criticising the “half-baked, corny” lyrics and “vague, hackneyed platitudes about failure and redemption.”
