Katy Perry didn’t attend the 2025 Met Gala, but that didn’t stop a fake photo of her from going viral—again.
An AI-generated image showed the pop star in a dramatic gown, and a parody account on X claimed she was wearing a new kind of fabric called “Lustratex,” made by Mugler. They even posted a fake sketch of the dress and said Vogue had reported on it.
The tweet was seen over 400,000 times, and thousands of fans believed it. Some even reposted the image with credit to Getty Images, thinking it was real.
Perry later shut it down herself. She shared the fake photos and added: “couldn’t make it to the MET, I’m on The Lifetimes Tour (see you in Houston tomorrow IRL‼️).”
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because the same thing happened last year. An AI image of Perry in a flower-covered gown also went viral—and even fooled her mom.
This time, though, Katy confirmed her mom was in on the joke.
“She’s safe from the bots, but I’m praying for the rest of y’all.”
When the AI generated picture first went viral for the second year in a row, fans loved it but had been burned before.
Folks came with jokes.
@marshamolinari/Instagram
That included her long-time fiancé and father of her child, actor Orlando Bloom.
@orlandobloom/Instagram
Folks thought it was an AI fake for many reasons, some of which were related to whether the outfit was sufficiently “Katy Perry” to be plausible.
@bloekaty/Instagram
Many fans wanted the image to be real, and after the picture was revealed to be AI, the context of a viral post on X became even funnier.
People said they liked the AI, but also wished she would actually attend the event.
@kursatperry/Instagram
People wondered what else is being AI generated.
@miamoretti/Instagram
Perry is in the early stages of an 84-concert world tour.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter