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NFL legend Clay Matthews ripped by fans after viral AI photos turn to endorsement stunt
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- NFL legend Clay Matthews ripped by fans after viral AI photos turn to endorsement stunt
Some clearly fake images of retired football player Clay Matthews "looksmaxxing" appeared online Friday, Sept. 4, when TMZ posted them on X as if they were normal shots of a celebrity walking down the street. Most people assumed they were AI-generated, and the general consensus was they were just kind of lame. It turns out the truth is even less cool.
Earlier this week, TMZ published a "story" about the images. The gist of the story was that "The Pat McAfee Show" sidekick was turning heads with a new look :
The Green Bay Packers legend was spotted out grabbing coffee and groceries, looking absolutely jacked in a matching dark green set … but it's his face that's really catching our attention.
Clay's still rocking his trademark long hair — pulled back into a bun — but his overall appearance looks noticeably different from his playing days … has he had work done?!
MORE: NFL adds on to its exclusive list of official sportsbooks with Fanatics deal
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Blink and you might have missed the Caesars Sportsbook ad at the top of the post.
TMZ and Matthews confirmed the whole thing was an ad for a sportsbook on Wednesday morning. Matthews posted a sponsored video on X with the full ad. Meanwhile, TMZ ran another story about Matthews explaining the situation, which is plastered in ads for the sportsbook. Based on the video, it seems that it wasn't AI, but instead prosthetics for the elaborate sponcon.
Matthews even appeared in another video on TMZ during which he was interviewed by Harvey Levin and Charles Latibeaudiere. It looked like any other "TMZ Live" hit, but featured Matthews touting the revamped sportsbook.
Responses to all the post vacillate between annoyance and jokes about which cartoon characters and memes Matthews most resembles.
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This comes the same week that a prediction market released a video packed with celebrity endorsers to promote LeBron James coming aboard . This is a great reminder that there is no shortage of people with lots of money willing to encourage you to gamble on any number of things.
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