He’s a fan favorite and a strong prospect to take this year’s Gold Logie.
But Larry Emdur, 59, was shocked this week when images circulated online showing the Channel Seven stalwart being “arrested” by police.
The Morning Show host shared the AI-generated fake images in an Instagram post on Friday.
In one photo, Larry is led away by two police officers looking devastated and includes the caption: “Larry’s media career is over.”
A second image shows Larry being escorted by two law enforcement officers.
“According to the internet, it looks like I’ve been arrested twice since Sunday’s Logie announcement,” Larry titled his post.
Known for his quick wit and sense of humor, Larry couldn’t resist calling out the scammers behind the fake images.
‘I refuse to give in! I will run the rest of my Logies campaign from prison,’ he joked.
Gold Logie nominee Larry Emdur, 59 (pictured), was shocked this week when AI-generated footage showing the Channel Seven stalwart being arrested by police circulated online.
He also took the opportunity to poke fun at Gold Logie nominee Tony Armstrong.
“I know you’re behind this (scam), Tony,” Larry added.
Meanwhile, Tony responded: “Man, at ABC we’re all about honesty.”
Larry’s followers seemed to be drawn to The Chase host’s post and joined in to mock the scammers who created the fake images.
‘Showbiz is a wild ride. Can I get you a cake with a key lime?’ she texted Today Extra host David Campbell.
Larry joked that he would run his election campaign from prison. Larry shared this fake photo in his post, in which his last name is misspelled as ‘Emdure’.
Larry, who is up for a Gold Logie this year, posted the photos to his Instagram on Friday and mocked the scammers who created them.
Deal or No Deal host Grant Denyer sent a naughty message in response to Larry’s post with the comment: “See you in the showers.”
SAS Australia and ex-serviceman Any Middleton also followed Larry’s game with his joke message: “I’ll come and bail you out mate! On hold, on hold.”
Meanwhile, some of Larry’s friends pointed out that scammers had misspelled the star’s last name as ‘Emdure’ in one of their fake posts.
“‘Emdur’ sounds much better in the language than ‘Edmure’, I can see why you changed it,” he messaged Phil Burton of Human Nature.
Larry criticised his Gold Logie rival Tony Armstrong, joking that the popular ABC presenter had a part to play in the fake footage.
Larry faces stiff competition in the Gold Logie race.
Other contenders include Tony Armstrong, Robert Irwin and his I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here co-host Julia Morris.
Sonia Kruger, Asher Keddie and Andy Lee are also nominated for the prestigious gong.
This comes after Larry’s former Seven teammate David ‘Kochie’ Koch became a regular victim of scammers for similar pranks over the past year.
Pictured: Larry poses with Gold Logie hopefuls Tony Armstrong, Andy Lee, Robert Irwin, Sonia Kruger and Julia Morris
The TV veteran, 68, who left Sunrise a year ago, was seen in AI-generated footage showing him as “arrested”.
The image also has the 9News logo and the phrase: “Breaking News.”
“Why didn’t he tell the truth earlier?” the fake caption read alongside a picture of Kochie smiling.
The former Seven star was also the target of multiple cryptocurrency scams that used false reports of his death to trick people out of thousands of dollars.
Larry’s experience comes after scammers spread fake photos of David ‘Kochie’ Koch being arrested by police after his retirement (pictured)
Earlier this month, Koch criticized Facebook for failing to remove fraudulent ads using her image.
Along with billionaire Andrew Forrest and businessman Dick Smith, Koch is part of an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission lawsuit against Meta filed in 2022, accusing it of misleading conduct by allowing fraudulent ads, according to The Australian.
“I’m devastated by what (the scams) do to ordinary people – it’s people’s life savings,” he said.
‘If (Meta has) algorithms that can detect inappropriate customer posts on a platform, why don’t they have the same algorithms that can also detect inappropriate advertising and content on their platforms?’ Koch asked.