Will Smith has landed in hot water after uploading a tour video that fans claim is filled with artificial crowds.
As he launched the UK leg of his Based on a True Story tour in Scarborough on Sunday, Smith treated his followers to a promotional video packed with fans holding signs and cheering.
People watching the YouTube clip were quick to point out that some of the crowd scenes did not look right. Faces were blurred or stretched in an unnatural way, hands appeared unusually shaped, with several seeming to have extra fingers.
One shot in particular drew attention when a fan’s hand seemed to melt into a homemade sign referencing Smith’s music. Another shot left viewers scratching their heads as a headband belonging to a woman in the back somehow slipped onto the wrist of someone standing in front of her.
The official comment section erupted. Viewers wondered aloud why Smith needed to pad out video footage with computer made crowds. “Imagine being this rich and famous and having to use AI footage of crowds… Tragic, man,” wrote one commenter. Another disappointed fan asked, “Videographers exist, why abandon quality work for this degenerative slop?”
Spotlight on AI in the Music World
The criticism comes as the use of AI in the music industry becomes increasingly controversial. Artists and fans alike are debating the technology’s place in live shows and tributes.
Earlier this month, Rod Stewart came under fire after he used AI visuals in a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne at a performance in Georgia. His video showed an animated Osbourne smiling and posing with other late music legends, causing a stir online.
Back to Smith, fans were particularly vocal about the video’s glitches. “You can see many people in the crowd having six fingers or more, eyes smudged, faces are distorted. Proving that certain (well, almost all clips that show the audience) are AI generated,” wrote one.
Smith has not responded publicly to the uproar. His team also kept quiet as requests for comment piled up.
The Based on a True Story tour continues across the UK, with stops in Cardiff, Manchester, London, and Wolverhampton still on the schedule. Even as Smith’s new music draws both loyal crowds and mixed reviews, he wades into the deeper waters of what is real and what is digital.
