Is a story about a former foster child named Lily Tran getting into Stanford and being called on stage to speak alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth real? No, that's not true: The image and the text used to tell the story were generated by artificial intelligence tools, according to AI detectors. There are several versions of the story circulating on social media in which different celebrities keep a promise to perform with her if she got into Stanford. Lead Stories previously found versions with Eminem, James Hetfield, Adam Lambert, George Strait, John Foster and Morgan Wallen, most of which also used AI generated images.
The Hegseth version of the story appeared in a post (archived here) published on the web domain celeb.feji.io on September 4, 2025. It was titled:
The entire stadium in Minneapolis fell silent as Pete Hegseth set aside his speech notes mid-event, his eyes locking onto a weathered sign held high in the front row:
This is what the article looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: screenshot of celeb.feji.io by Lead Stories)
The story was heavily promoted though posts on Facebook with the link to the full article added to the first comment by the poster, a trick that evades some moderation and content filters on Facebook that only look at the content of a post itself. Here is an example of such a post (archived here), which read:
The entire stadium in Minneapolis fell silent as Pete Hegseth set aside his speech notes mid-event, his eyes locking onto a weathered sign held high in the front row:
"I got into Stanford. You said we'd stand together."
The crowd held its breath as a young woman stepped onto the stage -- Lily Tran, once an orphan in foster care, now a full-scholarship student at Stanford University, one of the most prestigious institutions in America. At just 9 years old, Lily had met Pete Hegseth during a community outreach program for veterans and children.
Back then, she had told him her dream: to escape hardship through education and service. Pete bent down, placed a hand on her shoulder, and told her:
"When you get into college, if I'm still out here speaking, we'll share the stage together."
Today, she kept her promise. And so did he.
The two delivered an emotional message side by side -- Pete speaking about duty, faith, and resilience, while Lily read aloud her own story of perseverance. At first, her voice trembled as she shared the words he had handed her, but with every sentence, her confidence grew -- as if every memory, every struggle, and every hope she had carried poured straight into her voice.
The arena, usually filled with loud cheers, fell silent -- only to erupt moments later with tears, applause, and thunderous ovations. As the final words faded, Pete leaned down and whispered into her ear:
"You didn't just keep your promise... you reminded me to keep mine."
The entire audience rose to their feet, applauding with all their hearts -- not just for a speech, but for something far more rare: a moment that rose above words themselves, becoming hope, resilience, and a promise fulfilled.
▶️ Watch video in the 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 👇
This is what the Facebook post (archived here) looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: screenshot of Facebook by Lead Stories)
The image used in the post and the article was generated using AI according to the Hive Moderation AI detector.
(Source: screenshot of Hive Moderation by Lead Stories)
The JustDone AI text detector also concluded the story was mostly written by artificial intelligence.
(Source: screenshot of JustDone by Lead Stories)
Although the "Today on Fox" Facebook page targets Americans with political and social content, it is administered from Russia, Vietnam, and Indonesia, according to Meta's transparency data (archived here).
(Source: screenshot of Facebook by Lead Stories)
Lead Stories previously published an article (archived here) debunking similar claims that Lily Tran performed with Eminem and other celebrities.
