Did authentic security camera footage show U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer kissing Waheed Alli, a television entrepreneur and prominent supporter of the governing Labour Party? No, that's not true: The video, which was shared widely in April 2025, was clearly fake, and likely a product of generative AI. The clip contained several tell-tale glitches typical of AI-generated videos.
The video was presented as authentic in an April 20, 2025 post on X (archived here). It consisted of what appeared to be black and white CCTV (security camera) footage of two male figures kissing outside the front door of a house or apartment, along with embedded captions that read:
CCTV of Starmer kissing Ali
the CCTV footage has finally dropped
of Kier Starmer kissing Lord Ali
The clip can be viewed below:
Keir Starmer kissing Lord Alli.
-- JAG Talks (@JAGtalks) April 21, 2025
Video sent to me by a friend.
This explains a lot of Starmers actions. pic.twitter.com/aKfumFLBxR
The original source of that clip was an April 20 post on TikTok, which was subsequently deleted.
That footage was fake, and had several features that were telltale signs of having been generated using AI.
Firstly, the timestamp on the supposed security camera footage made no sense. It appeared as "1219:13", which is not a valid time format:
(Source: TikTok screenshot)
If it was intended to denote "12:19 am", that would mean the "13" denoted seconds. However, the "seconds" remained fixed at 13 in the video, despite the clear passage of time and movement of the figures in the footage -- another clear sign of AI-generated video.
Secondly, the video featured a phantom pair of hands, fingers interlaced, behind one of the figures' neck, but with no forearm attached:
(Source: TikTok screenshot)
By contrast, the right arm and forearm of the other male figure is visible, but not the hand -- another visual defect typical of AI:
(Source: TikTok screenshot)
Finally, neither of the figures in the fake video resembles Starmer, whose body shape, height, and hair style does not match either the figure in the foreground or background, as shown in this comparison with an April 14, 2025 photo of Starmer:
(Source: TikTok screenshot)
(Source: @Keir_Starmer on X)
In September 2024, Starmer defended having accepted more than £20,000 ($25,900) worth of free accomodation from Alli, a Labour party donor and member of the House of Lords, during that summer's general election campaign, so that Starmer's son could have a peaceful environment in which to study for crucial high school exams.
Read more
For more Lead Stories fact checks relating to Keir Starmer, click here.
