WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Keith Urban made a confession during a recent show and has had an on-air spat with Whoopi Goldberg.
OUR VERDICT
False. The quotes attributed to Urban are fake and images of him displayed in the posts display signs of AI generation.
AAP FACTCHECK - Grammy-winning country musician Keith Urban is being targeted by false claims in the wake of his separation from Nicole Kidman, with a purported confession he made going viral.
However, the quotes attributed to the Australian star are fake and images of him in the social media posts show signs they were generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Oscar-winning actress Kidman has petitioned to end the 19-year marriage in a US court in a filing that stated the marriage "suffered irreconcilable differences".
A Facebook post from a page called 'Keith's Heartstrings' claimed the 57-year-old had made an unspecified confession, saying publicly that "I couldn't hide it forever".
The post attracted more than two million views and almost 10,000 likes in three days.
But there is no record that Urban said the quote attributed to him in the post, while the image of the musician appears to be AI-generated.
In the image, Urban has no piercings on his left ear, whereas in reality, he has three piercings.
There are no genuine photos of Urban that match the suspicious image, based on a reverse image search.
Another post from the same page claimed Urban's daughter, Sunday Rose, accused him of betraying Kidman and that she planned to "expose him".
However, there are no credible reports that Sunday Rose made such comments.
Another post claims the Australian musician confronted actor Whoopi Goldberg on her show The View, and accused her of "repeating lies just to get ratings".
AAP FactCheck was unable to find any record of Urban recently appearing on The View or him making the statements attributed to him in the post.
An image in the post shows signs of AI generation, including Urban not having a tattoo on his right hand that can be seen in a 2022 Instagram post by his tattoo artist.
The Facebook page appears to be a clickbait engagement operation that shares sensational, yet false claims about celebrities to trick users into clicking through to a website.
Experts have previously told AAP FactCheck that the linked websites are often laden with ads or scams.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked engagement bait pages targeting conservationist Bindi Irwin, Home and Away stars and the British Royal Family.
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