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Celebrity

'Unreal' Keanu Reeves account is so good that many of its fans don't know it's entirely fake

Deepfake AI tech is becoming so good it's scary.

keanu reeves, deepfake technology, AI

Keanu Reeves deepfakes are impressively real.

Even if they're not sold on him as an actor, people in general love Keanu Reeves as a person. With his down-to-earth vibe and humble acts of kindness, the Canadian star is just a genuinely good guy. Appreciating Keanu Reeves is like an inviolable law of the universe or something.

So it's understandable that people would be eager to follow Reeves on social media—except there's one problem. He has made it clear he doesn't use it.

Some people who come across an "Unreal Keanu" video on TikTok, however, are being duped into thinking he does, despite multiple disclaimers—including the account name—that it's not really his account.

The @unreal_keanu account has more than 8 million followers, some of whom appear to think they're following the actual actor. Whoever owns the account shares fun little video creations with "Keanu Reeves" in various relatable scenarios. He never speaks, so there's no voice to compare to the real deal, but his face and body are a darn good dupe.


The account clearly says "parody" in the bio, but if people don't click the bio to see that, they may very well believe the video to be Keanu Reeves himself. And judging by the comments, that's exactly what a lot of people do.

Check this out:

@unreal_keanu

Who isn't comfortable at parties either? #keanureeves #introvert #party

And this:

@unreal_keanu

Life with a girlfriend. #keanureeves #relationship #girlfriend

People who are familiar with deepfake videos or who have seen Keanu Reeves more recently (with his scruffy, salt-and-pepper beard) can fairly quickly discern that they can't be real, but the casual observer who sees these videos in passing can be forgiven for assuming it's him. The TikTok account has been around for almost a year and the technology has only gotten better and better. The first few videos are pretty clearly deepfakes, but the recent ones are genuinely hard to tell.

Here's the first video that was shared on January 18, 2022, where the AI element is a lot more obvious:

@unreal_keanu

Welcome to my TikTok🙂#keanureeves #reeves #actor

The progression of AI tech in just under a year is both impressive and a little terrifying. This account is clearly using Keanu's likeness for silly giggles and is pretty harmless, but it's easy to see how someone with nefarious intent could create serious problems for public figures as well as the average person.

The good news is that as AI technology is getting better, so is the technology to detect it. The bad news is that some people are prone to believing misinformation and resistant to fact-based correction, so even if a deepfake is detected as such, the truth may not fully break through people's blinders and biases.

The future of AI, for better or worse, is a big ethical question mark for us all. But in the meantime, it's pretty incredible to see what humans have figured out how to do.

Almost as incredible as how Keanu Reeves refuses to age. Unreal, indeed:

@unreal_keanu

Do I look my age? #reeves #keanu #thisismyage

Family

Heartbroken wife files for divorce after DNA test reveals 2-year-old son isn't hers

She first became suspicious when her son didn't have blue eyes.

A woman in distress contemplates her future.

It’s pretty common to hear a story about a man whose life is turned upside down after a DNA test proves that he’s not the father of a child he thought was his. However, hearing a mother dealing with the same scenario is rare. That’s why a recent post on Reddit has so many people talking.

A user named ThrowRA-3xbetrayal claims that a DNA test shows her husband is the father of the 2-year-old boy they’ve raised but she isn’t the biological mother.

The story began 6 years ago when the couple tried to conceive but had no luck. The woman then discovered she had a “medical condition” that meant she couldn’t bring a baby to term, which resulted in a partial hysterectomy. The woman, who refers to herself as the family’s “breadwinner” took on multiple jobs to pay a surrogate to have their child.


“I still had my ovaries so we started looking into cost of a surrogate. It is really expensive! My close friend since college who'd already had 2 kids of her own, offered to serve as the surrogate for us to cut down on costs. After two disappointing IVF sessions that did not result in pregnancy, she became pregnant on the 3rd try and carried a boy to term for us,” ThrowRA-3xbetrayal wrote.

The couple was over the moon after the birth of the boy and the surrogate became a bigger part of their lives.

dna test, paternity test, maternity testA woman in distress being comforted.via Liza Summer

“My friend and my husband started talking more and I would sometimes come home from my weekend job to find her already hanging out at our house when my husband was there,” ThrowRA-3xbetrayal wrote. “I chalked it up as innocuous and it's good for her to know my husband better since she was in the process of hopefully carrying our child for us. I was grateful to have someone helping us have a child.”

But the mother became suspicious because the baby’s eyes were brown when she and her husband’s were blue.

The mother took the child to a doctor’s appointment and she received some devastating news. She discovered that her son’s blood type is B+ while his father’s is O+ and She is A+. The doctor said it was “biologically impossible” for her son to have that blood type given his parents’.

ThrowRA-3xbetrayal thought the fertility clinic made a horrible mistake. She took a DNA test and found that her husband was the boy’s father, but she was not the mother. “Then my husband confessed that he'd slept with my friend (our surrogate) on a few different occasions during our struggle to have her get pregnant with our embryos,” ThrowRA-3xbetrayal wrote. “This means what I thought was our son conceived by IVF and carried with a surrogate isn't my son at all and was, in fact, conceived the old-fashioned way, which I can't ever do.”

The woman says that the terrible news felt like a triple betrayal. The woman has decided to divorce her husband and wants to give up any parental rights to the child. Her husband, the surrogate and her family all believe that she’s wrong to give up rights to the child that she’s raised for 2 years.

She asked Reddit’s AITA forum to tell her if she was in the wrong and the community responded with overwhelmingly positive support, affirming her tough decision.

dna test, paternity test, maternity testA happy toddler playing on the beach. via Taryn Elliott/Pexels

The most popular commenter said that she should sue the surrogate for taking her money without having her baby. “One of the things that gets me is that you were working extra jobs to pay for the surrogacy which I am assuming included her medical bills and financially supporting her. I would speak to a solicitor about suing her for your money back. She knew that if she was having sex then there was always a chance that the child was biologically hers,” they wrote.

Another affirmed the wife’s decision to leave her husband and to surrender any parental rights. “He cheated... it's not yours. I will absolutely tell you what I tell men posting this. It would be wonderful if you love the kid enough to stay, but if you're in shock and damaged too much to do so, you aren't the A**le for walking away,” they wrote.

Another pointed out that if a man were in this position, no one would judge him for giving up his parental rights. “If these roles were reversed and you were a man saying that his wife had cheated and had another man’s baby, people would have no problem telling him that he’s within his rights to leave and have nothing to do with the child if he doesn’t want to,” the commenter wrote.

If the story that ThrowRA-3xbetrayal wrote tells is true, it’s an incredible tragedy. She fought so hard to have a child only to realize she was living a lie two years later. So, let’s hope she found some solace in the hundreds of people who supported her decision to move on with her life while also sharing some great advice on going forward.

Education

Why every American should be poor at least once in their life

People who've always been financially comfortable really have no idea.

Being poor for a while is an eye-opening experience.

Let me start by saying that no one should have to live in poverty. I do, however, believe that every American should experience being poor at least once in their life.

I've never lived in true poverty, thankfully, but I've been poor. I've eaten government cheese. I've internalized the principals of "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" out of necessity. I know what it's like to pinch every penny and to not even think about buying anything "extra." I know the anxiety of paying for a car repair with a credit card that I can only afford minimum payments on, knowing the interest I can't afford will keep piling up.


I've also been fortunate to experience financial comfort. Not enormous wealth, but having enough to not be concerned about affording every little thing I buy. I know how it feels to go to the grocery store without a calculator. I've blown a tire and had the money to cover it. I've been annoyed instead of terrified when I have to replace an appliance. I've been able to take a vacation and splurge a little.

Being financially comfortable is better than being poor, of course. But I don't think people who've never known true financial struggle have any idea how much better it is. They may joke about being "poor" when they have to save their money for something, but they've never experienced not having any money to save.

Being poor teaches you so many things, far beyond just how to budget. You learn that it's hard as hell to climb your way out of financial trouble, how it can feel like you're stuck in a toilet bowl that's constantly swirling and pulling you back down. You learn how expensive it is to be poor—knowing you could save money in the long run shopping at Costco and buying in bulk or stocking up on things during big sales, but you have to have extra means in the moment to be able to do that.

You learn that a few hundred dollars is actually a huge amount of money. You learn that a lot of what people spend money on is totally wasteful. You learn which things are actually worth spending money on (brand names don't matter, shoe quality does). You learn to make excuses for not being able to go on fun outings with friends because you don't want to say, "Sorry, I can't afford that" and feel the awkwardness of it all.

What's surprising, though, is how much more you learn about being poor once you do have some financial ease. When you apply for a loan and get the best interest rates and the lowest fees because you have good credit and some money in the bank, you learn how much the system screws over poor people. When you are able to buy a car that doesn't constantly need repairs and furniture that doesn't fall apart after a year, it really sinks in how much more it costs to not have money. When you're able to pay less overall because you can afford the annual payment instead of the monthly payment for a service, you learn that having money saves money in ways you never imagined.

You learn gratitude for small things if you've been poor. The joy of treating yourself to a fancy coffee or some fresh flowers hits different when it's something you couldn't afford before.

You also learn that there are a lot of people who've never known financial hardship, and it blows your mind. As you spend more time in middle and upper middle class circles, you meet more and more people who aren't necessarily rich but who've never had to actually worry about money. It's not their fault, of course, but it's bizarre to witness these folks in the wild. Like, for some people, it's just normal to pay for a haircut and color at a salon every six weeks, as if it's no different than paying a phone bill. There are people who have never bought generic to save $.50 and simply wouldn't dream of doing so. There are people who set their thermostats to whatever temperature is comfortable and then just go about their day not thinking about their utility bill. It's unnerving to see things you know as luxuries just treated as the norm, to see how much freedom there is in simply not being poor.

But really, the most important lesson you (hopefully) learn from being poor is empathy. You learn not to judge someone for their financial situation. You learn that most people don't choose to be poor, and that it takes not just time and effort, but also luck and very often help, to get to a place of financial okay-ness. You learn that assuming anything about a poor person is likely wrong and that someone's financial situation is almost never a reflection of their moral character. You learn to be humble and kind and not take anything you have for granted.

I'm not saying anyone should go out and become poor on purpose. But even putting yourself through a mental exercise of trying to get by in a low-wage job or figuring out how you would handle a major financial setback can go a long way toward increasing understanding and empathy. Being poor isn't a necessity, but it does provide a valuable first-hand perspective that can be hard to get otherwise.

The Bee Gees singing "How Deep is Your Love" in 1998.

In 1998, the Bee Gees, brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, stopped by ITV’s “Des O'Connor Tonight” with acoustic guitars in hand to promote their recent release, “One Night Only,” an album and live concert DVD featuring many of the band’s biggest hits.

The highlight of the performance was when Barry got ready to strum his guitar for a performance of “How Deep is Your Love,” the 1977 megahit from the “Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack,” but instead chose to sing the song a capella.


Barry starts the song solo in his beautiful falsetto, but then, when his brothers join him, they create a wonderful harmony that only brothers can make. The show’s host, Des O’Conner, a notable singer himself, even joins in for a few bars.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

Earlier in the performance, the brothers played their version of “Islands in the Stream,” a song made famous by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rodgers in 1983 that was written by the Bee Gees. In 1998, the song was enjoying a resurgence as its melody was used in the song “Ghetto Superstar” by Pras of The Fugees.

Robin Gibb later admitted that the song was initially written for Marvin Gaye to sing, but he was tragically murdered in 1984 by his father. The band also had Diana Ross in mind while composing the tune.

During the appearance, the band also sang “Guilty,” a song that the Bee Gees wrote for Barbara Streisand and Barry produced in 1980.

You can watch the entire performance in the video below.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Unexpected history of the word soccer has people giggling

America and England have a long history, something about kings, tea and taxes kicked the whole thing off. Since the establishment of the United States there has been this sibling like rivalry between the two countries. People in England make fun of Americans' accents and Americans tease the British about their food. It's generally playful and everyone has a chuckle.

One of the main points of good natured ribbing is the different words used by the two groups of people for common items. In Britain women's underwear are knickers, potato chips are crisps, French fries are chips, and biscuits are cookies. These things can get a bit confusing if you're unaware of the different names of things, but one of the most diabolically accidental jokes is the word soccer.

Americans know that soccer is a game that involves a black and white round ball being kicked down the field. In England this sport is known as football, which is obviously not the same as American football but the reason "soccer" is used in the U.S. instead of football has people feeling gaslit by an entire country.


Americans didn't invent the term soccer. Nope. Not even a little bit. On "Red Handed the Podcast," the two co-hosts discuss the origins of the word soccer leaving one of them shocked after she declared that the proper term was football.

"Did you know soccer was coined by none other than the English," one of the women asks before getting into the etymology of the word. "So, let me take you back to the 1800s. Association Football, as it was called, was shortened to just ASSOC."

She goes on to explain that in the late 1800s there was a brief fad of adding "er" to the end of some words, basically causing a shortened word to be lengthened. The whole explanation is quite fascinating but people are a little annoyed but also satisfied given that the British often poke fun at Americans calling the sport soccer. Turns out they were the culprits all along like some sort of multigenerational practical joke that's just been discovered.



"Everyone also hates America for the Imperial system, but England invented that too," one person declares.

"Is there no end to the villainy of the Brits," someone laughs while questioning the entirety of Britain.

"You come over here and made us use imperial units then bailed. Now you did soccer," another commenter exclaims their feigned frustration.

Things take a bit of a sassy turn as the realization hits others. One person scolds, "gaslighting a whole country is such a British thing to do." While another one teases changing the name of soccer in America, "I just think we (we being Americans) should stop calling it soccer and call it Metric Football instead."

In the end someone called it out for what it seems to be, "it’s giving older sibling vibes lol."

Now that this information has been shared in short form on the internet, Americans are likely not going to let this one go but it's all in good fun.

Pop Culture

Singer performs original song Prince himself wrote for her and leaves "AGT" judges astounded

Liv Warfield gave "America's Got Talent" audiences a special gem by The Purple One.

Flickr/Wikipedia, America's Got Talent/Youtube

Prince would be so proud.

The Olympics might be over, but we are far from done at marveling at elite-level humans at the top of their game.

America’s Got Talent” returned from its two week hiatus with eleven incredible acts, but it was R&B singer Liv Warfield who stole the show with her rendition of “The Unexpected,” a song that just so happened to be written specifically for her by Prince. No big deal.

Warfield had already wowed audiences with her initial audition, which earned a Golden Buzzer from Simon Cowell. But this next performance had Cowell saying “If this was the Olympics for singing, you would have won the gold medal.”


Judges Sofia Vergara and Howie Mandel echoed similar praises. Vergara called Warfield’s set “perfection,” while Mandel, a self-proclaimed Prince fan, told Warfield that The Purple One “knew what he was doing when he gave you this gem. That was a million-dollar performance.”

And it’s not hard to see why Warfield got such high remarks. Beyond her unbelievable vocals was her undeniable star power…as well as her ability to transport us all back in time to the days of 70s rock n’ roll.

As one viewer put it, “If Prince and Janis Joplin had a baby = Liv Warfield!”

Just watch:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Warfield’s connection to Prince began in 2009, when she joined his New Power Generation band. Though she noted that “backing up Prince was a dream,” not to mention the fact that she’s already made several chart topping achievements on her own, she still felt like her ultimate potential had yet to be reached. Hence her “AGT” audition, and now her quarterfinal performance which Cowell declared a defining moment in her career.

“It felt to me like all those years you’ve been climbing the ladder to where you want to be, it all came out in those three minutes,” he said.

Indeed, what a testament to the power of steadily going after your dreams. Raw talent is great, but even with god given gifts, there’s still so much work that goes into being ready for big opportunities. No matter how this competition fares, Warfield is a winner through and through.