Images of Taylor Swift statue at CN Tower are digital creations

Published on November 20, 2024 at 18:41
3 min read
By Gwen ROLEY, AFP Canada

Canadian social media was abuzz amid the highly anticipated Toronto dates for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, but photos and videos claiming to show a towering figure resembling the American pop star in front of the CN Tower are altered. There is no such statue at the downtown Toronto site, an AFP journalist verified, and representatives for the landmark said no such giant likeness was ever erected.

"TORONTO ARE YOU READY FOR IT," says the caption of a November 14, 2024 Facebook video.

The clip appears to depict a large statue of Swift in front of the CN Tower. Other posts on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube spread different versions of the image of a supposed homage to the singer-songwriter.

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken November 19, 2024

Screenshot of a YouTube video taken November 19, 2024

As Swift closes out her record-breaking international Eras Tour -- of which Toronto is the penultimate stop -- she has garnered significant press coverage and has frequently been the subject of misinformation and media manipulations.

The images of the Swift statue at the CN Tower are similarly artificial. An AFP journalist in Toronto visited the downtown complex where the tribute supposedly sat and did not come across any large sculptures of the pop star. A November 19 photo is seen below left.

The CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 19, 2024 with highlights added (Ben Simon)

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken November 19, 2024 with highlights added

The communications team for the CN Tower also confirmed to AFP that there had never been a statue dedicated to Swift in front of their building.

One of the earliest versions of the video AFP could find was a November 11 Instagram post. The caption of the clip does not specify whether the image is real or a creation, but the user's profile describes them as a visual artist (archived here) and the account is full of other images of Toronto which appear to be digitally altered.

AFP reached out to the creator for comment but a response was not forthcoming.

Other manipulated images of the CN Tower previously spread online and were debunked by AFP.

Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.

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