Clay Matthews has been making headlines after TMZ shared shocking snaps of him looking quite different, prompting fans to call out the use of AI.
Who is Clay Matthews?
The former NFL star played for the Green Bay Packers for most of his career and wrapped up his time in the league after one year with the Los Angeles Rams in 2019.
During his 11-season career, Matthews was selected to six Pro Bowls and recorded 91.5 sacks. He also helped the Packers defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV in February 2011.
TMZ posts fake photos of Clay Matthews
On Friday, September 4, in an apparent ad post, TMZ claimed to have new photographs of the athlete with his face looking like he had undergone a knife.
In the clicks, Clay looked very muscular with a cartoonish and square-looking jaw, with TMZ captioning the post, "Clay Matthews was spotted out grabbing groceries looking VERY different after apparently getting some work done."
Since TMZ added "#ad" to its post, netizens concluded that it could be some kind of a publicity stunt for Week 1 of the NFL season.
Moreover, on X, a community note also declared the post AI-generated, with no credible source confirming the dramatic transformation.
Internet reacts to TMZ's AI-photos of Clay Matthews
Fans flooded the comment section as it was immediately speculated that the outlet used AI-photos to depict Clay and that the photographs were fake.
"Um this is AI, has to be," one user penned in the comment section of the Instagram post.
Another fan added, "Why tmv posting A.I photos lol."
"This can't be his real picture. It must have been altered!" a third comment read.
"Ya'll play too much. This gotta be A," a fourth fan said.
Clay Matthews breaks silence on TMZ post
Reacting to the fake pictures on his X account Clay Matthews kept things light-hearted as he responded with a one-word reply, "Gigaclay" with a bicep emoji.
NFL fans will see Clay Matthews soon, as he has been hired by Netflix to provide pregame, halftime, and postgame analysis for next Thursday's game between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams.
