Clip of ex-Pakistani PM 'kissing jailed socialite Ghislaine Maxwell' shows signs of AI

"If I start telling you tales from Imran Khan's youth, you will do 'Taubah Taubah'," reads the Urdu-language overlaid text on a Facebook video shared on November 30, 2024, referring to the Islamic concept of repentance.

The 19-second video is made up of two clips and appears to show a much younger Khan kissing women -- including British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell who was convicted in December 2021 for helping the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls (archived link). 

Oxford-educated Khan is described as one of the world's greatest all-rounders in cricket before he entered politics (archived link). He has also earned a reputation as a playboy, had a string of socialite girlfriends and frequented exclusive nightclubs in London.

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Screenshot of false posts, taken on January 13, 2025

He served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, when he was ousted after reportedly falling out with the military establishment which wields huge influence over civilian politics.

Khan has been jailed in Pakistan since August 2023, sidelined by dozens of legal cases he claims were confected to prevent his comeback in elections marred by rigging allegations (archived link).

The video has also been shared alongside similar claims in posts on X, YouTube and TikTok.

But the clips show signs they are AI-generated. 

Not kissing

Keyword searches on Google found the clip appearing to show Khan and Maxwell kissing corresponds to a picture published by the stock photography website Shutterstock (archived link).

Its caption said it showed the pair at a party held on October 28, 1990 to mark "the fall of communism" a year after the destruction of the Berlin Wall. 

The website also published other pictures of Khan and Maxwell, but none of them showed them kissing.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the picture on the Shutterstock website (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the picture on the Shutterstock website (right)

Further keyword searches on YouTube found the other clip -- seemingly showing Khan kissing an unidentified woman -- was similar to a video published on the verified YouTube channel of UK-based film archives company Kinolibrary (archived link).

The video's caption read: "Colour interview footage with sound from the 1990s with Pakistani international cricketer and heart-throb Imran Khan at his lavishly decorated home in Britain."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the clip from Kinolibrary video (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the clip from Kinolibrary video (right)

Visual inconsistencies

Siwei Lyu, director of Media Forensic Lab at the University of Buffalo, told AFP on January 9 that it was "highly likely" that both clips were generated with artificial intelligence models (archived link).

He pointed to several inconsistencies in the videos "in terms of temporal inconsistencies and distortions of objects".

These include a painting in the background at the beginning of the first video that appears to come to life, while a person's face becomes featureless in the second clip.

Below are screenshots of the false clips with the inconsistencies highlighted by AFP:

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AFP has previously debunked fabricated videos of Pakistani politicians and their family members here and here.