He is a fan favorite and a leading candidate to win the Gold Logie this year.
But Larry Emdur, 59, was in for a shock this week when photos circulated online showing the Channel Seven veteran being ‘arrested’ by police.
The Morning Show host shared the fake AI-generated images in an Instagram post on Friday.
In one photo, a devastated-looking Larry is led away by two police officers, with the caption: “Larry’s media career over.”
A second image shows Larry being escorted by two law enforcement officers.
“According to the internet, it appears I have been arrested twice since Sunday’s Logie announcement,” Larry captioned his post.
Known for his quick wit and sense of humor, Larry couldn’t resist attacking the scammers behind the fake photos.
‘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 left in shock this week when AI-generated photos circulated online showing the Channel Seven stalwart being arrested by police
He also took the opportunity to deliver a cheeky dig at Gold Logie nominee Tony Armstrong.
I know you’re behind this [scam] Tony,’ Larry added.
Meanwhile, Tony replied, “Mate, the ABC is all about honesty.”
Larry’s supporters seemed pleased with the message from The Chase host and joined in to ridicule the scammers who created the fake photos.
‘Showbiz is a wild ride buddy. Can I bring you a cake and file?’ Sent a message today Extra host David Campbell.
Larry joked that he would be running his logie campaign from behind bars. Larry shared this fake photo in his post, which misspells his last name 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 took them
Deal or No Deal host Grant Denyer mischievously responded to Larry’s post with the comment: “See you in the shower.”
SAS Australia and former soldier Any Middleton also played on Larry’s joke: ‘I’m coming to set you free, mate! Standby, standby.’
Meanwhile, some of Larry’s friends pointed out that the scammers had misspelled the star’s last name as “Emdure” in one of their fake messages.
‘Emdur’ is a lot nicer than ‘Edmure’, I can see why you changed it,’ messaged Phil Burton of Human Nature.
Larry took a dig at his Gold Logie rival Tony Armstrong, joking that the popular ABC host had a role to play in the fake footage
Larry faces tough 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 up for the prestigious gong.
This comes after Larry’s former stablemate at Seven, David ‘Kochie’ Koch, has regularly fallen victim to scammers pulling similar pranks over the past year.
Pictured: Larry poses with Gold Logie candidates Tony Armstrong, Andy Lee, Robert Irwin, Sonia Kruger and Julia Morris
The 68-year-old TV veteran, who left Sunrise a year ago, was seen in AI-generated footage appearing to appear “arrested”.
The image also shows the 9News logo and the text: ‘Breaking News’.
“Why didn’t he tell the truth sooner?” the false caption read next to an image of Kochie smiling.
The former Seven Star was also the subject of multiple cryptocurrency scams that used false reports of his death to scam people out of thousands of dollars.
Larry’s experience comes after scammers distributed fake photos of David ‘Kochie’ Koch who was arrested by police after his retirement (pictured)
Earlier this month, Koch condemned Meta (Facebook) for failing to remove scam ads using his likeness.
Along with billionaire Andrew Forrest and entrepreneur Dick Smith, Koch is involved in a lawsuit brought against Meta by the Australian Consumer & Competition Commission in 2022. According to The Australian, the commission accuses the company of misleading conduct by allowing fraudulent advertising.
“I’m devastated by what (the scam) does to ordinary people – it’s people’s savings,” he said.
“If (Meta) has algorithms that can pick up on inappropriate customer posts on a platform, why don’t they have the same algorithms that can also pick up on inappropriate ads and content on their platforms?” Koch asked.