Video authentically shows Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour explaining why she permanently removed U.S. President Donald Trump from the Met Gala invitation list.
A video circulating on social media in early May 2025 claimed to show Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine Vogue and co-chair of the annual Met Gala, explaining why she had “permanently removed” U.S. President Donald Trump from the Met Gala invitation list. In the clip, Wintour purportedly delivered a monologue about Trump, saying he “never truly belonged” and that she didn’t “want this most sacred night in the fashion world to be reduced to someone’s political show.”
One X post (archived), with more than 1.7 million views, sharing the video featured the alleged Wintour quote “He hasn’t been canceled he just truly never belonged here” alongside a caption that read, “If only the government could take this powerful stance. This should be the new Democratic slogan.”
Below is the transcription of the monologue featured in the viral video:
I never regret permanently removing Trump from the invitation list of the Met Gala, even though he was the president. He used to be a guest. At that time I thought he was just a businessman, but I was wrong. The Met gala is neither Mar-a-Lago nor stage for the restoration of the powerful and wealthy. When I host this event, it’s not to reserve a seat for him, nor to let his supporters shout “Make fashion great again” by the red carpet. We make room for art, culture and the true spirit of innovation, rather than making way for someone who is blatantly belittled women, mocked immigrants and regarded aesthetics as a bargaining chip. He once tried to persuade me to let him return to the red carpet with the first lady and also hinted that they were sponsoring brands willing to pay. I refused because the Met Gala is not an exchange. He hasn’t been canceled. He just never truly belonged here. It’s ridiculous that he actually thought he could come back. I don’t want this most sacred night in the fashion world to be reduced to someone’s political show. Whether he is willing to admit it or, not he’s out for good.
The video has been shared across social media platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
In short, the video that appeared to show Wintour explaining why she banned Trump from the Met Gala is a deepfake — digitally fabricated content created using artificial intelligence to manipulate or entirely generate audio and video that appears to be real. The video combined altered footage from an authentic Vogue interview with what appeared to be an AI-generated voice. There was also no evidence that Wintour ever made the statements attributed to her in the clip. Additionally, a Vogue spokesperson confirmed via email that the video was “definitely fake.”
Therefore, we have rated this claim as fake.
Origins of the deepfake
According to the watermark visible in the video, it originally appeared on TikTok via the user @kiu1384934c and was later reposted by other accounts. However, as of this writing, the clip no longer appeared on that account, suggesting it was likely removed or taken down.
The TikTok user appeared to regularly share similar AI-generated videos featuring celebrities. We have reached out to the user to ask whether they were the original creator of the video and, if so, what tools or software they used in its production.
The original footage used to create the deepfake comes from an episode of Vogue’s series “Go Ask Anna” titled “Anna Wintour on the Kardashians, Leggings and more,” published in 2019. In that interview, Wintour never mentioned Trump or the Met Gala.
Below is a side-by-side comparison of a nearly identical moment from the original video (left) and the deepfake version (right). While both use the same visual frame, the deepfake features a likely AI-generated voice and fabricated remarks that were not present in the authentic interview.
(Vogue.in, X user @charise_lee)
Below is the full original interview with Wintour posted on Vogue’s YouTube channel in March 2019.
The portion of the Vogue video manipulated in the deepfake originally showed Wintour discussing interview attire, not Trump or the Met Gala. In the original footage, she said: “Your wardrobe is not going to be doing the job for you, it’s who you are,” while reflecting on how some candidates dress for job interviews at Vogue.
The Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector tool analyzed a sample of the audio from the video and concluded that the voice was “likely a deepfake,” assigning it an authenticity score of 2 out of 100. The voice also exhibited subtle signs of artificial generation, such as slightly unnatural pacing, further suggesting it was created using AI.
(Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector)
For further tips on how to spot a deepfake, check out our article on the topic.
We’ve also investigated a similar claim that Wintour banned Trump from the 2025 Met Gala, as well as another deepfake video that purported to show Trump talking about being banned from the Met Gala.