Russian propagandists exploited celebrity videos from the popular Cameo platform to support their disinformation campaigns, cybersecurity researchers at Microsoft said.

Beginning in July, pro-Russian social media channels began circulating videos of American celebrities that were “deceptively edited to promote anti-Ukrainian propaganda,” says a report published Thursday by the think tank. of Microsoft Threats.

The report says a person linked to Russia used Cameo, the popular website where people can pay public figures for personalized video messages, to get these videos of celebrities, including actor Elijah Wood and boxer Mike Tyson.

The celebrities were apparently unaware that the videos were later edited to appear to attack Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, CNN reports.

“The manipulated messages in the video feature famous people in various fields pleading with the Ukrainian president to seek help for substance abuse,” according to the report.The videos were widely shared by pro-Russian social media accounts and then further amplified by state-backed Russian media, the report said, where they were misleadingly labeled as messages addressed directly to President Zelensky.

The US Russian Embassy did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Microsoft researchers said they observed at least seven of these types of celebrity video messages used since late July 2023.

In addition to Wood and Tyson, these videos feature other American celebrities such as Priscilla Presley and actors Dean Norris, Kate Flannery and John McGinley.
A representative for Tyson told CNN in a statement that the videos circulating of Tyson were fake and he had “zero involvement” in the “creation of such content.”

Other celebrities named in the report did not immediately respond to CNN’s requests for comment.

The videos were edited in some cases to appear to be media interviews or from a celebrity’s social media account and part of broader pleas to Zelensky to get help for an alleged substance abuse issue.

“Kremlin officials and state-sponsored Russian propaganda have long promoted the false claim that President Zelensky is battling addiction and substance abuse,” Microsoft researchers said in the report.A spokesperson for Cameo told CNN in a statement that the company does not comment publicly “on the details of its Trust and Safety investigations.” The spokesperson added, however, that these types of videos “violate Cameo’s Community Guidelines, and in cases where such violations are proven, Cameo typically takes steps to remove the problematic content and suspend the buyer’s account.”

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