A new photo of Britney Spears has ignited a wave of artificial intelligence conspiracy theories online, as fans scrutinized a series of peculiar details in her now-viral selfie with celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton. Appleton, known for working with Kim Kardashian, sparked chatter on Monday when he shared an image of himself alongside the pop princess, 44, after giving her a set of sleek new hair extensions.
Bizarre Details in the Image
It did not take long for eagle-eyed followers to point out what they believed to be several strange inconsistencies in the photograph, leading to speculation that the picture had been heavily edited or even generated using artificial intelligence. Perhaps the most talked-about detail was Chris's outfit: a vintage T-shirt displaying three images of a Barbie doll. Images of the T-shirt posted elsewhere online show that it is emblazoned with the phrase: 'I wanna be Barbie... the b*tch has everything.' However, when Chris's selfie is flipped, the words on his T-shirt appear jumbled, with the word 'Barbie' notably missing an 'i'. The faces of the dolls also appear warped compared to the original.
'Why does his shirt say BARBE instead of BARBIE?' one Reddit user commented. 'His shirt tells you all you need to know about it being AI. Barbe,' another added. Someone else chimed in: 'The picture is absolutely AI. There is no damn ripple in his shirt blocking an I. Let alone their deformed faces. There's also no room for the 'be' in the slogan.' However, others have claimed the letters on Chris's T-shirt look illegible because of the way the fabric is draped. 'People were saying the T-shirt text was nonsensical if you flipped it, but it says 'I wanna be Barbie'. Some of the letters are obscured by the undulations of the fabric, but it's a real shirt!' one user claimed on Reddit. 'It's a real shirt. It just looks that way because of how the shirt is rippling due to the angle,' someone else argued.
Eyes, Teeth, and Other Features Under Scrutiny
Elsewhere, other fans have noticed that Britney's eyes look much lighter in the photo than they do in real life. 'Britney Spears has brown eyes and they look kind of blue-ish grey here, which could be a result of editing,' one fan commented. 'Why are her eyes blue!?' someone else wrote, as a third user added: 'Yeah one thing most people don't realise is that Britney has gorgeous rich brown eyes.' However, others pointed out that Britney could have been wearing contact lenses. 'I mean Britney has been known to wear blue contacts in the past,' one argued, while another agreed: 'She's worn contacts before.'
Some users have also pointed to Britney's teeth, which do not feature her signature gaps in the photo. 'But here somehow she doesn't have a gap in her teeth?' one person queried. 'Where did the gap in her teeth go? This doesn't look like the Britney we know,' another wrote. However, some users argued that Britney could have undergone a simple procedure to fill the gaps in her teeth prior to the photo being taken. 'You can go to the dentist and get that fixed in under an hour,' someone wrote. 'Invisalign works wonders for gaps. Remember we on social never see things in real time,' another user pointed out.
Other details include Britney's hairline, which some users have claimed looks too far forward to be real and does not feature her natural widow's peak. Her hands have also been the centre of debate, with some arguing that Britney's pinkie finger is far too long to be real. And some have even claimed her nose looks different to how it appears in real life. Fans have also questioned why the framed artwork behind Chris and Britney is surrounded by a second frame.
When questioned by a fan in the comments whether the photo was real or AI generated, Chris simply replied: 'Lol it happened.'
