Tim Cook photo manipulated to place him at Samsung event

Published on January 26, 2024 at 21:43
3 min read
By Rob LEVER, AFP USA

Social media posts purport to show a photo of Apple chief executive Tim Cook attending a smartphone launch event by rival Samsung in January 2024. But the image is altered from a picture taken at the Coachella music festival in 2022.

"Tim Cook spotted at the Galaxy AI event, San Jose, California," says a January 18, 2024 Facebook post showing the tech executive wearing a pullover in a crowd. "Even Tim is excited to see the new AI features."

The same image with "Galaxy AI" written in the background circulated on X, formerly Twitter, and elsewhere on Facebook. The claim also spread in French following the January 17 launch of Samsung's Galaxy S24, the South Korean electronics giant's new flagship device.

Screenshot of an X post taken January 25, 2024

The launch came after Apple overtook its longtime rival as the world's largest smartphone seller, ending a 12-year run with Samsung at the top. The two companies have for years competed for leadership in the premium smartphone marketplace.

But the image purporting to show Cook at the Samsung event has been altered -- and one of the earliest claims AFP found is labeled as satire (archived here).

Using a reverse image search, AFP found the same picture without the Galaxy AI text posted April 16, 2022 (archived here).

"Tim Cook vibin to Harry front row," says text over the photo, which appears to be a screenshot of an Instagram story from a Los Angeles-based director and photographer.

Tim Cook at Coachella vibing to harry styles… why is seeing him have a personal life so disturbing pic.twitter.com/57xBdK9XMi
— Ian Zelbo (@ianzelbo) April 16, 2022

Keyword searches surfaced posts on X and TikTok showing Cook at the 2022 Coachella music festival, where he attended a performance by Harry Styles (archived here, here and here).

Screenshot from TikTok taken January 25, 2024

The show was also captured in a YouTube video showing Cook in the front row (archived here).

Screenshot from YouTube taken January 25, 2024

US media report Cook has attended Coachella multiple times. AFP contacted Apple for comment, but a response was not forthcoming.

AFP has fact-checked other false and misleading claims about Apple here and here, and about Cook here.

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