Paris Hilton ‘Tom Cruise’ video confuses fans with deepfake technology
Paris Hilton hasn't ditched husband Carter Reum for Tom Cruise, but a TikTok from the reality TV star sure caused some confusion.
"I always do my own stunts (while always in full glam)," Hilton captioned a video to the platform Wednesday where she appears to get dolled up for a date-night movie premiere with "Mr. Cruise."
She later commented on the post that she was "#Sliving it up with @deeptomcruise," the account for Cruise impersonator Miles Fisher.
In the clip, Hilton asks Fisher, "Do you think people are really going to believe that we're a couple?" He responds: "I think most people will believe anything."
Before Hilton confirmed the Cruise was a fake, fans couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"Omg what is happening," one commented.
"Wait a damn minute," replied another.
But then fans started to realize it wasn't really the "Top Gun" star.
"Tom Cruise isn't that tall lmao," one eagle-eyed fan pointed out, while another wrote, "ugh I could so see that working, but then I was like she already married 😂 dang it."
USA TODAY has reached out to Fisher and reps for Hilton and Cruise for comment.
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Who is Tom Cruise impersonator Miles Fisher?
Fisher shared the same clip to his TikTok account, which has 3.6 million followers. "Parody & younger," the account bio explains.
There's no word yet on what spurred the perplexing video, but in earlier posts from Fisher, the two posed with cereal.
Fisher is an actor and the founder of a coffee company in Los Angeles, according to his LinkedIn bio where he also claims to have "pioneered the use of Deepfake technology in creating DeepTomCruise." He also has a podcast called "Coffee with the Greats" in which he has "interviewed global leaders in business and media," his bio says.
Fisher first started posting the fabricated Cruise videos in early 2021 and talked to NBC News about how he uses deepfake technology to create them.
"As I find myself the unofficial face of this deep fake movement, it’s important to learn and I’m fascinated by this," Fisher told NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff in December. "This is the bleeding edge of technology."
He told the outlet that he works with a company started by Belgian visual effects specialist Chris Umé that uses deepfake tech.
What is deepfake technology?
Deepfake technology refers to the use of computer software to manipulate audio and video recordings to create a piece of media content that looks real, but is not. So while Fisher does look like Cruise, it's this face-swapping technology that fooled viewers.
Deepfakes are still being debated among researchers and lawmakers as to whether they could be problematic.
Broad concern around the idea of video forgeries began in late 2017 when computer software was used to superimpose celebrities into porn. But deepfakes have shown up in other ways.
One of the best-known examples was created by director Jordan Peele's production company in 2018. The video shows former President Barack Obama warning people not to believe everything they see on the internet. However, it's not actually Obama talking. It's Peele ventriloquizing the former president.
Concerns around deepfakes continued to rise ahead of the 2020 election as a doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi circulated online.
Wait, is that video real? The race against deepfakes and dangers of manipulated recordings
Since then, the Department of Defense, through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, began developing ways to detect when a video is a deepfake, USA TODAY reported in 2019.
A spokesperson for the agency said at the time that while many video manipulations are performed for fun (as is the case with Fisher's Cruise) others are much more dangerous, as they can be used to spread propaganda and misinformation.
But, despite the concerns over the hypothetical dangers, abuse of deepfakes has yet to be seen outside of adult videos. The Verge published a report in 2019 that questions whether technology for swapping faces is even a major threat seeing as though it has been widely available for years.
In Fisher's interview with NBC, he said that the deepfake company he works with "begins with ethics."
"I think the technology is morally neutral," he said. "As it develops, the positive output will so far outweigh the negative, nefarious uses."
Paris Hilton is married to Carter Reum
While the TikTok does look a good job a fooling fans, Hilton recently married 41-year-old entrepreneur Reum in a "true fairytale wedding" in November 2021.
The day after the couple's nuptials, Hilton wrote a blog post on her website with her initial reaction of the celebration and becoming a "new wife."
"Yesterday was the big day: My Wedding. I finally got to kiss my Prince and begin the happily ever after I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little girl," she wrote.
She also gushed about her new husband and shared the moment the two saw each other for the first time before the wedding.
"I told him he couldn’t cry, because then I’d start crying and I would ruin my mascara before my walk," she wrote. "Of course, he did cry, but I think I started crying first. It was a Cinderella moment and I knew I found my true love."
Paris Hilton wedding:TV star shares details about wedding to Carter Reum: 'Of course, he did cry'
Contributing: Dalvin Brown, Hannah Yasharoff
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