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| - Since May 2024, social media has buzzed with claims that actor Keanu Reeves is set to portray Bob Marley in an upcoming film about the Jamaican reggae singer's life. This rumor began on May 22, 2024, with an Instagram post by the account manmeetsmachine, titled "Rasta Reeves," and featuring the hashtag "#bobmarley."
The post included photos that appeared to show the "John Wick" star with long, dark dreadlocks, resembling Marley:
These images sparked speculation across Instagram, X and Facebook, with many users asserting, "Keanu Reeves is playing Bob Marley in a new movie he's shooting in Jamaica."
Snopes reached out to Reeves' team for clarification about this but did not hear back.
Regardless, a little digging showed the Instagram images are fake.
The rumor gained significant traction on June 28, 2024, when the X account Big Protein shared the images of Reeves, captioning them, "Keanu Reeves on the set of his new movie called 'The Last Bumbaclot.'" This post amassed 30 million views, as of this writing.
However, the claim that the Canadian-born actor is portraying Marley in a new film stems from the digitally altered images posted by the first account, manmeetsmachine, which describes itself as a "digital creator," and states that "Nothing Is Real" on the page. The account admitted using "Midjourney for this set" of dreadlocked images of Reeves, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) program.
Two days after the viral X post by Big Protein and other accounts claimed the dreadlocked photos of Reeves were for a real movie role, entertainment news platform FandomWire published the images. That site suggested they were leaked from the film set of "The Last Bumbaclot," adding, "While a lot about the movie is yet to be revealed, including the news [of] whether its actually a movie or it's just AI playing tricks on us, word is that the shooting is taking place in Jamaica."
No reputable news outlets reported on Reeves taking on a Marley film role or being involved in a film titled "The Last Bumbaclot." Further, a search on IMDb shows that while Reeves has several projects in the works, including "Constantine 2," there is no indication of his involvement in a Marley biopic, or a film named "The Last Bumbaclot."
Jamaican slang defines "bumbaclot" as an expletive similar to "d-bag" or other curse words, often used to express disgust or shock.
A real feature-length biopic, "Bob Marley: One Love," released Feb. 14, 2024, stars British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir as the "Get Up, Stand Up," singer, who died in 1981 from a rare form of melanoma. This film, which explores Marley's life and music, does not feature Reeves in any capacity.
Because the rumor that Reeves is playing Marley is unfounded and based on admitted AI-generated images published to social media, we rate this claim as "Fake."
Snopes has previously reported on fake photos, including the fake mugshot of singer Amy Winehouse, and a falsified photo of actor Harrison Ford.
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