AI deepfake hoaxes spread false death and tragedy claims about Clarkson's Farm cast
AI-generated deepfake images and false news posts circulated on Facebook claiming cast members of Clarkson's Farm had died or experienced personal crises. Jeremy Clarkson condemned the hoaxes and expressed concern for Gerald Cooper, who was reportedly distressed about his children encountering the misinformation online.
What happened
Fake Facebook posts circulated claiming that Gerald Cooper, a cast member of the Prime Video show Clarkson's Farm, had died. The posts also falsely claimed that Kaleb Cooper had had another child, that Lisa Hogan had left Jeremy Clarkson, and that Jeremy Clarkson had broken his leg.
Each fabricated story was accompanied by AI-generated images designed to appear realistic and substantiate the false claims.
Reported impact
Jeremy Clarkson expressed disgust at the hoaxes and stated he was concerned about how the fake posts affected Gerald Cooper, who is described as unused to being in the public eye. Clarkson noted that Cooper was worried about his children seeing this type of content online.
Index analysis
The incident reflects broader concerns about the use of AI tools to generate deepfake images and spread misinformation on social media platforms. Clarkson also highlighted the misuse of AI features, citing X's Grok feature being used by some to digitally remove clothes from images without consent.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.