Is it real or is AI? You’ve probably seen this recent Freedom 250 concert photo going viral. The photo was shared in a now-deleted post from Freedom 250’s Threads and Instagram account featuring country singer Celeste Kellogg and her band performing their song “Faith in Freedom” on the main stage at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on June 26, 2026.
One threads user, who’s Thread is now going crazy viral, was quick to point out something interesting.
“This is f*cking hilarious. Zoom in on the guitarist’s sunglasses.”
The close-up of the photo revealed that the band was performing to a crowd of maybe eight or so people. Naturally, supporters tried to claim the photo was from a sound check or even AI.
We scoured the Internet to fact-check whether this photo was AI or not. We went to the singer Celeste Kellogg’s Facebook page and found a set of photos she shared from the performance. In the caption, she stated: “I made vision boards/bingo cards on some goals we had for the year. One of mine was a ‘Freedom 250 Performance’ – never did I expect to be able to check this off on my bingo card but here we are! Such an honor to perform in our nations capital today celebrating 250 years of America!
Clearly, it was their actual performance, and not a sound check. I mean, we’ve been doing this music news thing since 2008, and artists don’t share polished photos of their sound checks while creating lengthy heartfelt captions where they reference the photos as a “performance.” Sound checks are usually done without glam and in casual and comfortable, non-performance attire. Sound check photos also aren’t shared by the event organizer and the artist’s social media pages as the official performance (and then deleted once they’re called out for a shameful fact).
The original photo set shared on Celeste’s Facebook page included two alternate photos with fresh angles from her guitarist and bassist. Both dudes were wearing sunglasses, which reflected an empty grass field before them. So essentially, the photo that is currently going viral is quite generous, showing about eight or so fans in the field for Celeste Kellogg’s ‘Freedom 250 Performance’. But the other two photos, which her Facebook page has now deleted (don’t worry, we have receipts), show a grass field absent of fans.
You be the judge.
Part 1
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Part 2
Across all social media, from Instagram to Facebook, TikTok, and even YouTube, scenes from the Freedom 250 event at the Great American State Fair were widely shared. One thing each photo and video had in common was abysmal attendance.
The initial musical lineup for The Great American State Fair concert included performers Bret Michaels, Martina McBride, Morris Day and The Time, Young MC, C+C Music Factory, The Commodores, and Milli Vanilli’s Fabrice Morvan. They all canceled. Some artists dropped out of the lineup, citing it was not as nonpartisan as they were initially led to believe. Others claimed the safety of their fans, band, crew, family, and themselves was at stake.
Vanilla Ice stayed on, though; however, Mother Nature didn’t want to hear him.
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