Fact Check: Is image showing Kamala Harris arriving at the 2026 Oscars real?

An image showing Kamala Harris at the red carpet of the 98th Academy Awards went viral on social media.

PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO

A viral image circulating on social media showed Kamala Harris walking the Oscars red carpet (@popkhive/X)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In the wake of the 98th Academy Awards, an image has been circulating on social media platforms claiming to show former Vice President Kamala Harris at the Oscars red carpet. Let us analyze the image and fact-check whether Harris actually attended the ceremony.

Claim: Image shows Kamala Harris at the 2026 Oscars

The viral image shows the former vice president at the Oscar red carpet waving at the audience as photographers click her photo (@popkhive/X)

The viral image shows the former vice president waving at the audience on the Oscars red carpet as photographers capture her photo.

Different versions of the image have spread on various social media platforms such as X, Facebook, and Threads, garnering hundreds of thousands of views, along with thousands of likes and shares.

While some users in the comments section mocked Harris for attending the ceremony without any invitation, others remained skeptical and questioned the authenticity of the viral picture.

Fact Check: The image is AI-generated

Kamala Harris speaks onstage during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards dinner at Walter E. Washington Convention Center on September 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Congressional Black Caucus Foundation)

However, Kamala Harris did not attend this year's Oscar ceremony, and the viral image is fake. It was generated using Artificial Intelligence.

AI detector tools such as Hive Moderation and ZeroGPT confirmed the image to be created using AI. While ZeroGPT detected a 99 percent AI likelihood, Hive Moderation showed 97 percent.

Moreover, a closer look at the image shows a board in the background referencing the 96th Annual Academy Awards, despite the claim linking it to the recent ceremony.

A fact check by Grok stated, “No, this isn't true. The photo is from (or mimics) the 96th Oscars in 2024, with that exact "96th Annual" backdrop. Kamala Harris did not attend the 98th Oscars tonight.”

Subtle political messaging on red carpets

An Oscars backdrop wall is pictured on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

While the Academy Awards ceremony traditionally focuses on artistic achievement, earlier awards events this season included visible political messaging from some attendees.

At the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, several actors, including Mark Ruffalo and Natasha Lyonne, appeared wearing pins reading “ICE Out” and “Be Good.”

The pins are linked to an advocacy campaign supported by the American Civil Liberties Union that highlights concerns about immigration enforcement policies.

Although red carpet interviews occasionally touch on political topics, recent major award shows largely avoided coordinated political statements during the televised ceremonies.