Russia tricked Elijah Wood, Mike Tyson and others into creating anti-Ukraine propaganda videos

Russia is carrying out a wide range of cyberattacks against Ukraine, along with a military invasion. As part of this effort, it is known that they tricked celebrities, including actor Elijah Wood, into recording videos and using them for propaganda purposes.

Russian influence and cyber operations adaptation for long haul and exploit war fatigue - Microsoft On the Issues

Celebrities tricked into recording videos made into anti-Ukraine propaganda
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/misinformation/celebrities-tricked-cameo-videos-russia-ukraine-propoganda-elijah-wood-rcna128331

Elijah Wood, other actors unwittingly caught up in Russia propaganda effort - CBS News
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cameo-russian-propaganda-putin-zelensky-microsoft-report/

According to Microsoft's report, the victims include actors Elijah Wood , Priscilla Presley , Dean Norris , Kate Flannery , John C. McGinley , musician Shavo Odadjian , and former boxer Champion Mike Tyson.

The operatives used Cameo , a service that allows users to pay celebrities to personally record short videos, and used it to 'encourage Vladimir, who is abusing drugs, to seek help from those around him.' Obtain a video that advises you. After adding media logos, emojis, links, etc. to the material, the video was processed to make it look like ``Ukraine's President Zelenskiy is suffering from drug addiction'' and spread on social media. Vladimir is a common name among Slavic peoples, and in Ukraine it is used in forms such as 'Volodymyr', the name of President Zelenskiy.

According to NBC News, the video has been repeatedly uploaded to VK and Telegram, Russia's social networking sites equivalent to Facebook, and the erroneous explanation behind its spread was that 'the original video was uploaded to Instagram.' is.

Furthermore, based on videos uploaded to VK and Telegram, state news agencies RIA Novosti, Sputnik, Russia-24 and others have reported, as if celebrities are telling President Zelensky to ask for help. He is said to be spreading false information.

``President Zelensky is addicted to drugs'' is a propaganda that Russia has been spreading on SNS for many years, and the material on which this video is based cannot be viewed on Cameo.

A representative for Mr Wood confirmed that the source material for the video was requested on Cameo, adding: ``It was not intended to be directed at President Zelenskyy and has nothing to do with Russia, Ukraine or the war.'' It’s something that doesn’t exist,” he commented. A representative for Mr. Presley made similar comments.

A representative for Flannery said: ``Kate supports Ukraine 100% and is extremely upset.''

Mr. Tyson, whose Cameo video was edited into a music video-style video in which he ``recommended President Zelensky to go to a rehabilitation facility'' without sound, said through his agent, ``The video circulating is fake. Tyson does not provide any information or participate in the creation of such content.'

In response to this situation, Mr. Wood and Mr. Tyson have temporarily stopped accepting requests on Cameo.

A spokesperson for Cameo pointed out that deceiving content creators in using the service is a violation of its guidelines, stating, ``At Cameo, if we discover a violation, we typically remove the offending content and cancel purchases. We will take measures to terminate their accounts.'