Claim: A picture shows three stunt doubles of Tom Cruise.
Fact: The men are not the stunt doubles of Tom Cruise. In fact, the picture is AI-generated.
On 8 June 2023, Instagram account @fhmpakistan posted a picture (archive) showing what the magazine claims are “three stunt doubles” of Hollywood actor Tom Cruise.
@fhmpakistan captioned the image as follows:
“A picture of Tom Cruise’s three stunt doubles from the film “Mission Impossible 7” baffled netizens. The internet was left in shock at the uncanny resemblance that the three men in the frame shared with Tom Cruise.”
Some claims stated that one of the men is the authentic Tom Cruise.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check analysed the image to determine any discrepancies that may point to it being created by artificial intelligence (AI).
We also reverse-searched the Tom Cruise image and came across a post (archive) by Facebook user Ong Hui Woo, who wrote:
“I made a few AI images of Tom Cruise Stunt Doubles with Midjourney a few days ago, for fun. Didn’t expect it to go viral. Now at least a million people around the world are asking if the photos are real .. or maybe a lot more.
“But for the first time, with the help of Midjourney’s AI, I was able to illustrate my dreams in full color, instead of text, which we normally do.
“When I posted the AI photos on my Midjourney Official FB group page, I assumed everyone in the private group would know, because that’s where all the AI photos and illustrations are shared. But I didn’t expect anyone outside the group to pick it up to share on their own social media accounts.”
Soch Fact Check also found a post (archive) — which has many more images — by Ong Hui Woo in a Facebook group called “Midjourney Official,” which has over 420,000 members and where users post images created by Midjourney, a generative artificial intelligence tool. While the picture gallery is now unavailable, its creator wrote,
“Tom Cruise’s stunt doubles celebrating at the MI 7 premiere after party. *If you intend to copy and paste these photos on your website or your FB, please at least mentioned and give credit to the original creator (which is me) or Midjourney, the platform where all these images are created.”
Two comments (archive) identified by BOOM Live — which is accredited by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), of which Soch Fact Check too is a signatory — show that the creator, Ong Hui Woo, confirmed the images were made by him:
“ใช่พวกเขาดูเหมือนกันเพื่อที่พวกเขาจะสามารถแทนที่ Tom ได้ โดยทางบริษัทได้สร้างพวกเขาขึ้นมาทั้งหมดโดยใช้ AI
Yes, they look alike so they can replace Tom, the company created them all using AI.”
“คุณสามารถใช้แพลตฟอร์ม ai ที่เรียกว่า Midjourney ในประเทศไทยได้ไหม
Can you use the ai platform called Midjourney in Thailand?”
The Quint’s Webqoof, also an IFCN signatory, said the creator of the ‘Tom Cruise stunt doubles’ image “confirmed to us that he made several images of Cruise with his doppelgangers on Midjourney”.
The image has also been debunked by Snopes, Telugu Post, Reuters Fact Check, and Misbar.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the past 30-day period using the search term “tom cruise stunt doubles” and found more than 76,000 interactions across 181 Facebook posts.
The post by @fhmpakistan (archive) has been liked more than 31,000 times and received close to 250 comments. The magazine also posted the image on Facebook.
We found the AI-generated picture uploaded here, here, here, here, and here on Twitter. On Facebook, it was shared here, here, here, here, and here. Publications such as this, this, and this also posted the visual.
Conclusion: The men are not the stunt doubles of Tom Cruise. In fact, the picture is AI-generated.
Background image in cover photo: @officialtomcruise
To submit an appeal on our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com