A crazy rumor is circulating online: Olena Zelenska, the wife of the Ukrainian president, allegedly bought the brand new Bugatti Tourbillon for the modest sum of 4.4 million euros. And to top it all off, she allegedly used the money of the “American taxpayer” intended to help Ukraine in its defense against Russia. This is actually fake news.
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The rumor, which has set social networks ablaze, has sparked very virulent reactions.
“While the Ukrainians are dying in an absurd war, Olena Zelenska, Zelensky’s wife, bought herself a Bugatti Turbillon for 4.5 million euros during a stay in Paris. The contrast between their luxury and the misery of Ukraine is revolting. How much longer will this obscene circus continue?” reacted one Internet user in a tweet generating more than 600,000 views.
A tweet from the controversial Jackson Hinkle has racked up over 65,000 likes: “The wife of the Ukrainian president just bought a Bugatti sports car worth €4.4 million with US taxpayers’ money.”
But how did this rumor come about? To justify their claims, Internet users rely on an invoice and a video of a man presenting himself as an employee of the Bugatti Paris dealership. The latter is pleased to count Olena Zelenska as the “first owner” of this brand new racing car.
In reality, the employee’s video is a deepfake, created using artificial intelligence! It comes from a fake Instagram account named @jacques_bertin_ls. The user, followed by more than 5,000 people, claims to be linked to the Schumacher group, owner of Car Lovers.
Faced with this “disinformation campaign” orchestrated by this “so-called salesperson”, the Bugatti dealership in Paris, managed by the Car Lovers group, quickly reacted. In a statement published on Instagram, it denies the existence of this transaction and this invoice, and lists the many inconsistencies in the document: absence of legal notices, incorrect address (Neuilly-sur-Seine being written with only one “l”), and errors in the price and options of the vehicle.
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