Does a still image in a video on social media show the cousin of "Dr. Sebi" being sentenced to prison for supposedly revealing "health secrets"? No, that's not true: A tool used to detect AI-generated images found evidence that the image of a man in an orange prison jumpsuit in a courtroom is not real and likely was created by artificial intelligence. The claim about "Dr. Sebi's" supposed cousin did not contain any details to verify that the person shown is related to the late Alfredo "Dr. Sebi" Bowman or that such a sentencing ever occurred.
The claim appeared in a reel (archived here) on Facebook on May 2, 2024. The reel's caption said:
Free Him... ❤️🩹🙏 #naturalhealing #holistichealth #healthsecrets #naturalremedies #drsebi
The reel's opening shot shows an image of a man in an orange jumpsuit in a courtroom. Black-and-white text superimposed on the image reads:
Dr.Sebi's COUSIN was going to reveal his TOP gatekept health secrets. Coincidentally, he was sentenced to 170 YEARS in prison... 🤔‼️
watch to learn the truth...
"Dr. Sebi," whose real name was Alfredo Bowman, was a Honduran man who died in 2016. He was not a licensed physician and was known for promoting disreputable herb-based products and holistic practices.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Fri May 3 14:50:03 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories previously has disproven similar claims about supposedly authentic images showing a purported son or daughter of "Dr. Sebi" on trial. These fact checks can be read here and here.
For this image of "Dr. Sebi's" supposed cousin, Hive Moderation, an AI-detection tool, assessed the face in the image as 95.1 percent "likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content":
(Source: Hive Moderation screenshot taken on Fri May 3 15:27:00:46 2024 UTC)
A Google Lens search (archived here) of the image of the man revealed similar digitally manipulated photos of different men pictured in orange jumpsuits in courtrooms with superimposed text claiming these men are "Dr. Sebi's" sons who are being sentenced for revealing "health secrets."
Lead Stories searched using keywords on Google News and found no credible documents or reporting to corroborate the claim made on Facebook. The post's text did not give the name of the photographed man or other details -- such as the location and date of the supposed trial and sentencing -- that would help narrow the search.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks of claims mentioning "Dr. Sebi" can be read here.
