The claim: Image shows Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sitting with Trump and Epstein
An April 12 Facebook post appears to show rapper and music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs sitting on a couch with former President Donald Trump and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Several young women are with them.
“Bible Study!” reads the post’s caption.
The post garnered more than 2,000 shares in less than two weeks. Similar versions of the claim were shared on Facebook.
Our rating: Altered
Combs was digitally added to an image that experts agree was already AI-generated. Incongruities in the limbs and hands of all the image’s subjects indicate the picture is not legitimate.
Viral image is digitally fabricated
The post attempts to link Trump and Epstein to Combs, who is currently facing multiple lawsuits and investigations for alleged sex trafficking and sexual assault. The caption appears to be a reference to the former president’s controversial decision to sell personalized Bibles.
But the image of the three men is not legitimate, as evidenced by an array of clues including Epstin’s lack of legs.
Combs was added to an image of Trump and Epstein that began circulating on social media in May 2023. AI detection tool Hive Moderation found that older image to be 99.9% likely to be AI-generated, and experts agreed the image is a digital fabrication.
Walter Scheirer, a professor of engineering at the University of Notre Dame, told USA TODAY the hands and unnaturally-rendered fingers of those in the image are clear indications the picture was most likely AI-generated. He also said there are several hands and other body parts that are clearly not attached to any of the image’s subjects.
James O’Brien, a computer science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, pointed out Epstein’s lack of legs and the image’s heavily compressed, low-resolution appearance as well. He said the arms wrapped around Epstein looked “implausible,” and the disgraced financier’s left arm looked “distorted and unnatural.”
“It’s possible that there are some people ducked down behind the couch that are sticking their arms into the scene, but that seems odd and unlikely,” O’Brien said in an email. “It also looks like Epstein’s right arm is very long to reach behind Trump and around the young woman in the red shorts.”
On top of these inconsistencies, several people’s eyes appear to be wonky or blurred over in the image.
Combs was added separately from the AI generation, as evidenced by his portion of the photo being higher resolution and lit differently than the rest of the image.
Though Combs has previously been photographed with the former president, there aren’t any credible photos of the music producer and Epstein together.
