Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 9/7/2025; Author: Aljaž Primožič
A professional group specializing in deepfake analysis has confirmed for Razkrinkavanje.si that 83 percent of the audio in the video does not match the characteristics of human speech.
The Facebook page Great Wall Golf Club posted a video on 20 June purportedly showing a segment from the TV show Tarča, aired on Slovenian public television TV Slovenija. The post included the caption: “Famous actor recounts how he nearly ended up in a wheelchair because of pills – and how Dr Erik Brecelj’s cream got him back on his feet.”
In the video, the TV show’s host, Erika Žnidaršič, introduces testimony by actor Boris Cavazza, claiming he had taken a strong stand against a group of pharmacists “after they tried to ban a treatment method developed by Dr Erik Brecelj.”
While introducing Cavazza’s supposed statement, the video shows various photos of him and an apparent courtroom clip where he appears to physically confront pharmacists. In one image, the actor is shown accompanied by two police officers.
In this statement, Cavazza claims that doctors diagnosed him with “arthritis and nerve compression in the lower back,” and that Dr Brecelj’s formula was the what allowed him to live pain-free again. The video ends with an audio clip from an interview in which Dr Brecelj discusses the ban on the sale of the cream he allegedly developed.
By the time of publication, the alleged segment of the show had been viewed by 22,000 Facebook users, liked by 79, and shared by 10. The post also includes a broken link to a website offering the alleged cream for purchase.
A review of past episodes of Tarča and other online content revealed the original context of four clips shown in the video. The segment with Erika Žnidaršič was taken from an episode on peer violence that aired on 3 April this year. The courtroom fight, supposedly involving Cavazza, is in fact footage of an incident in the Georgian parliament that took place last year.
The footage showing Boris Cavazza originates from a video posted on 19 February 2019 on the Facebook page of the project Bodi dober, bodi kul (Be Good, Be Cool), where the actor gives life advice to children. The excerpt featuring Dr Brecelj comes from the Slovenian government’s podcast GOVSI, published on 6 June this year, in which Brecelj discusses the Slovenian healthcare system.
The Medical Chamber of Slovenia, which warned about identity misuse in a different fake advertisement involving Dr Brecelj in a September 2023 press release, described Dr Brecelj as “a specialist in general and abdominal surgery,” with a professional focus on oncological surgery. Rheumatoid arthritis is diagnosed by a general practitioner and confirmed by a rheumatologist.
The Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU), which operates within the Misinformation Combat Alliance, assessed the video’s authenticity for Razkrinkavanje.si.
“This is a textbook case of medical misinformation,” the DAU concluded. Their tools revealed a high likelihood that the video was generated using artificial intelligence. Audio analysis software showed that 83 percent of the sound in the video deviates from natural human speech patterns.
In examining the visual elements, DAU analysts identified typical signs of digital manipulation, such as unnaturally dark areas in Cavazza’s mouth, irregular shape and colour of his teeth, and inconsistent lip colour. They also noted unnatural, repetitive hand movements by the TV show host.
Mladen Borovič, a lecturer at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Maribor, likewise confirmed for Razkrinkavanje.si that the video is “definitely a deepfake.”
He pointed out that in the photo of Cavazza with the two police officers, the faces appear unnatural and pastel-toned, likely due to digital editing. The police uniforms lack Slovenian insignia, and the emblems are illegible.
In Borovič’s assessment, “Cavazza’s statement is a very convincing deepfake – his gestures, lip movements, and speech align remarkably well, giving an impression of authenticity.” He added that this part of the video was likely created using publicly available video and audio recordings, of which there are many given that Cavazza is an actor.
The most obvious sign of inauthenticity appears in the segment with Dr Brecelj, which begins with a brief clip where the speech, facial expressions, and lip movements are not synchronized, followed by a blurry screen, according to Borovič.
As tools for generating video and audio content become more advanced, verifying their authenticity is increasingly difficult. Borovič emphasized the urgent need to clearly label AI-generated content and better educate the public on how to recognize it.
Cavazza told Razkrinkavanje.si that he was deeply shocked upon seeing the video in which his likeness was used to sell pills. “Everything, absolutely everything, was fabricated. They put words in my mouth that I never said,” he said.
He added that artificial intelligence had constructed an unbelievable story, albeit poorly. He also expressed outrage at the lack of regulation that would prevent such abuse: “This is madness. It is mad the kind of things they dare do. Shameless. And apparently, with impunity.”
We have informed the Great Wall Golf Club Facebook page, Tarča host Žnidaršič, and Dr Brecelj of our findings and will publish their responses once we have received them.
Based on the Razkrinkavanje.si methodology, the post has been rated as fake.
