Elon Musk Shirtless Harkonnen Photo
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Related Explainer: Some Think The Picture Of Elon Musk Looking Like A Harkonnen Is Real, But It's A Work Of AI
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About • Origin • Spread • Various Examples • Search Interest • External References • Recent Images |
About
Elon Musk Shirtless Harkonnen Photo refers to a viral photograph of Elon Musk in which he resembles a Harkonnen from the Dune film series. In the image, Musk is shown shirtless on a beach, appearing to wear a wet black towel or long shorts. He's seen as more obese than in shirtless photos taken of him in 2022 while on a boat in Mykonos, Greece. The photo was proven to be AI-generated after it circulated on Twitter / X in April 2024 and was used in memes.
Origin
On April 24th, 2024, X[1] user @theliamnissan tweeted an image of a shirtless Elon Musk on a beach wearing long, black shorts. The user captioned it, "Wow," receiving over 21,000 likes in two days (shown below).
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Per an investigation from Know Your Meme, the image was revealed to be AI-generated via multiple tells, including a poorly rendered right hand (details shown below).
Spread
The image was spread in viral quotes and exploitable usage going into late April 2024. For instance, on April 25th, 2024, X[2] user @superloafcat tweeted the image, writing, "concerning in a good way," receiving over 4,000 likes in a day (shown below, left).
Later on April 25th, X[3] user @quebecween tweeted the image, saying, "new elon photo just dropped," gaining over 19,000 likes in a day (shown below, right).
During the same timeframe, comparisons between Musk and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen from Dune surfaced, like a Photoshop edit posted by X[4] user @RealYouTubeKids on April 25th, 2024, receiving over 1,000 likes in a day (shown below).
The memes spread to other social media sites as well, evident in a collab post shared by Instagram[5] users @shitheadsteve and @moistbuddha on April 25th that read, "His transformation into Baron Harkonnen is nearly complete," receiving over 123,900 likes in a day (shown below, left).
The image was also posted to /r/nflcirclejerk by Redditor[6] Ok-Tennis330 on April 25th, 2024, who made a joke about the 2024 NFL Draft, earning over 1,200 upvotes in a day (shown below, right).
Various Examples
Search Interest
Unavailable.
External References
[1] X – @theliamnissan
[2] X – @superloafcat
[3] X – @quebecween
[4] X – @RealYouTubeKids
[5] Instagram – @shitheadsteve and @moistbuddha
[6] Reddit – /r/nflcirclejerk
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