Eva Mendes Isn’t Playing Around When It Comes To AI-Generated Photos Of ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ Star Ryan Gosling

Comic-Con weekend always brings its fair share of viral moments, but this year, one of the biggest talking points had nothing to do with a trailer drop or surprise cast reveal. Instead, it centered on an increasingly familiar problem in the entertainment world: the blurry, unsettling line between real celebrity encounters and convincing AI fabrications.

The image in question appeared to show Ryan Gosling and Johnny Depp casually strolling through the crowds at San Diego Comic-Con, seemingly bonding alongside a third figure from an account known for AI-generated content. It looked plausible enough at first glance to fool plenty of scrollers, especially with both actors legitimately in San Diego that weekend for separate projects.

That’s exactly why Eva Mendes stepped in. The actress, who has been in a relationship with Gosling since the pair filmed ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ together back in 2011, spotted the post from the Instagram account Opavisions and wasted no time setting the record straight. In a comment reported by TheWrap, Mendes bluntly called the image “FAKE” and urged the account to be upfront when sharing AI-generated content.

The account, which centers around an AI-generated character named Slopaxo interacting with real celebrities, had captioned the post by describing the supposed hangout as one of Comic-Con’s most memorable off-stage moments. Nothing in the original caption disclosed that the image had been artificially generated, which is precisely what drew Mendes’ attention in the first place.

What followed was a slightly chaotic but ultimately good-natured exchange. The account responded to Mendes almost immediately, first with a quick apology, then a comment expressing genuine admiration for Gosling as an actor, and finally a more formal disclaimer clarifying that the post had indeed been made using AI.

That third comment leaned into some real film fandom, name-checking ‘The Nice Guys’ and ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ as inspirations, while also mistakenly referencing Mendes’ role in ‘Hitch’ alongside a film she never actually appeared in. Shortly after the exchange played out publicly, Opavisions disabled comments on the original post altogether.

While Gosling and Depp never actually crossed paths at the convention, both stars did make real, headline-grabbing appearances that weekend. Depp surprised fans by showing up in character as Ebenezer Scrooge to promote his upcoming holiday film ‘Ebenezer,’ later crashing Collider’s Directors on Directors panel while still fully in costume.

Gosling’s own Comic-Con moment turned out to be arguably even bigger news. He made a surprise appearance during Marvel Studios’ Hall H panel, where the studio revealed he has been cast as Ghost Rider in a new solo film, with Shawn Levy attached to direct after previously working with Gosling on ‘Star Wars: Starfighter.’

The timing couldn’t have been more fitting for an AI mixup, given how much genuine excitement was already swirling around both actors that weekend. It’s a reminder of just how easily fabricated content can slip into a news cycle already packed with real celebrity sightings and legitimate announcements.

Mendes’ pushback also lands at a moment when AI-generated celebrity content has become nearly indistinguishable from the real thing, making transparency from creators more important than ever. Whether Opavisions follows through on its promise to label future posts more clearly remains to be seen, but the account has at least learned the hard way that Mendes keeps a close eye on anything involving her longtime partner.

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