Will Smith kicked off the U.K. run of his Based on a True Story Tour this past weekend, celebrating his first album release in nearly twenty years. The concerts packed arenas with sold-out crowds, but the momentum was quickly overshadowed by backlash tied to a video uploaded on his official YouTube channel.
The clip, created as a thank you to fans, pulled together what appeared to be concert highlights. Viewers, however, immediately noticed strange glitches that suggested heavy use of artificial intelligence. Faces looked distorted, hands stretched in unnatural ways, and particular objects blended into places they should not have been. One example showed a woman’s headband somehow wrapping around another person’s wrist. Another frame captured a man holding a sign with his fingers twisted. The sign read, “‘You Can Make It’ helped me survive cancer. THX Will.”
Fans on socials were quick to call it out. “Imagine being this rich and famous and having to use AI footage of crowds… tragic, man,” one user posted. Another questioned why Smith’s team would pass over professional videographers in favor of what they called “degenerative slop.” Others shared timestamps highlighting where the digital flaws were most obvious, with one comment simply labeling the video “embarrassing.”
The reaction touches a bigger conversation in music culture about the line between authenticity and technology. While Smith has often embraced innovation, this situation shows how artificial visuals can backfire, especially when fans expect raw and genuine energy from live performances. Many felt the clip replaced connection with something artificial and empty.