A video that allegedly shows a man being endorsed by rapper Cardi B on his Hinge dating profile has gone viral on TikTok, sparking debate over its authenticity.
Uploaded by TikTok user @alanka45, the video, which has been viewed more than 166,000 times, shows the Hinge profile of a man named “Paul” and a voice prompt purportedly recorded by the famed rapper.
“Hey guys, it’s me Cardi B. So I want to tell you a little bit about Paul for his Hinge profile,” the audio prompt begins. “I have no idea why he is on Hinge and he’s being a big dork by looking at me as I say this right now, it’s really strange, but what I will tell you is that he is a lot of fun. He’s definitely one of the most interesting people I know and that’s what I wan’t to tell you and I’ll let you find out the rest yourself.”
The clip quickly led to widespread debate, with many convinced that the audio was real.
“Paul getting Cardi to do his dirty work,” one user joked.
But others weren’t buying it and instead suggested that the audio had been made with artificial intelligence (AI).
“It’s that AI where you can type and it sounds like celebrities,” another added.
Some even claimed that Paul merely hired Cardi B on Cameo, the online service where celebrities are paid to film video messages for fans. But it turns out that Cardi B does not have a Cameo profile. And at least one TikTok user who claims to know Paul believes that the audio prompt could be real.
“omg I know Paul!” user @diane_le wrote in the comments.
When asked by @alanka45 to spill Paul’s secrets, @diane_le argued that her alleged friend had numerous connections with celebrities.
“it’s most likely cardi b. he interacts with a lot of cool people, including celebs,” @diane_le said. “also I showed him this tiktok and he got a kick out of it lol.”
But there’s still no evidence that the audio is actually real. The subdued tone throughout the audio clip is also indicative of AI.
The Daily Dot reached out to @diane_le and @alanka45 for comment but did not hear back. A representative for Cardi B at Atlantic Records did not respond to the Daily Dot’s media inquiry either.
Given that text-to-speech tools are widely available online, it’s better to err on the side of caution when it comes to questionable celebrity audio found online.
Today’s top stories
| ‘Fill her up’: Bartender gives woman a glass of water when the man she’s with orders tequila shot |
| ‘I don’t think my store has even sold one’: Whataburger employees take picture with first customer who bought a burger box |
| ‘It was a template used by anyone in the company’: Travel agent’s ‘condescending’ out-of-office email reply sparks debate |
| Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online. |