Fake video of Ghislaine Maxwell in Canada manipulated using AI, AFP investigation finds

• An AI-manipulated video falsely claiming to show Ghislaine Maxwell walking in Quebec City went viral before AFP Fact Check confirmed it was a digitally altered face-swap.

A video circulating widely on social media claims to show British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell walking the streets of Quebec City, but an investigation by AFP Fact Check has determined the footage was digitally manipulated using artificial intelligence.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2022 on sex trafficking charges linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial.

The viral clip, first shared in mid-February 2026, shows a woman resembling Maxwell appearing startled and denying she is “Ghislaine” after someone calls out the name on a street in Quebec City, capital of Canada’s predominantly French-speaking province.

A Facebook post dated February 21 captioned the video: “Pizza enthusiast in Canada thinks he sees his old pizza delivery girl, Ghislaine Maxwell,” an apparent reference to the long-debunked “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory.

The footage spread rapidly across Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, amassing millions of views, including in Spanish-language posts. Some users claimed to analyze the woman’s facial features, asserting similarities with Maxwell as supposed proof she was no longer in prison.

However, AFP Fact Check traced the video to social media accounts using the handle “clump.qc,” which appear to have first posted the clip on Instagram and TikTok on February 18. 

Contacted by AFP, the account holder confirmed in a February 25 direct message that the Maxwell video was created using the artificial intelligence tool Remaker.ai. The user said the clip was produced for humor and “ragebait,” not to mislead viewers.

According to the creator, Maxwell’s likeness was inserted into an existing video using face-swapping technology. Landmarks visible in the background correspond to real locations in Quebec City, including near the Saint-Jean Gate in the historic old town, but the face shown in the footage was digitally altered.

Other media outlets reporting on the video noted that the Instagram post later displayed a Meta label warning that the content was generated or altered by artificial intelligence. This notice was not visible when the video initially began circulating.

Maxwell was transferred in August 2025 from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security facility in Texas. Earlier this year, the US House Oversight Committee released audio from a February 9, 2026 deposition in which she declined to testify without clemency after being subpoenaed over her relationship with Epstein.

Doctored images and manipulated videos linking high-profile figures to Epstein and Maxwell frequently circulate online. The Quebec City clip is the latest example of how AI-generated content can be used to create convincing but false narratives.