Limp Bizkit: is Putin in new Out of Style music video? Deepfakes explained

Nu metal fans have been treated to a brand new music video from Limp Bizkit, for their song Out of Style which features on their 2021 album Still Sucks. The video for Out of Style see’s the Limp Bizkit members transformed into a variety of world leaders by using deepfake technology.

Lead singer Fred Durst stars as Russian President Vladamir Putin, while the rest of the band appear as American President Joe Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping and North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un.

In the video, Putin, Biden, Zelenskyy, Jinping and Jong-Un are all performing in a garage for Hollywood star Tom Cruise (Top Gun, Mission Impossible) whilst he barbecues hot dogs on a grill in the driveway.

What happened at Woodstock?

For those paying attention to the new music video, you might have noticed that the deepfaked barbecuing Cruise is wearing an apron that says “Woodstock” on it. Limp Bizkit performed at Woodstock 1999, the events of which were recently the subject of a Netflix docuseries called Trainwreck: Woodstock ‘99.

The festival was surrounded by controversy due to things like difficult environmental conditions, poor planning and sanitation, overpriced food and water, sexual assault and rape, violence, rioting and even death.

Limp Bizkit performed on the Saturday night of Woodstock with violence and vandalism breaking out during their set amongst the audience.

Many have blamed the band for the behaviour of the audience and the chaos that broke out during the event, including Jonathan Davis of Korn, who performed on the Friday night.

Speaking about Limp Bizkit, Davis said: “[Korn] rocked that place the first night, and everybody had fun. The second night, Limp Bizkit f**ked it up for everybody. They really did. [Durst] instigated the whole damn thing - I was right there watching it.”

In a 2012 interview about Woodstock ‘99, Durst said: “When we were onstage, it was the greatest concert of all time. I had no idea that the finger would be pointed at me as a guy starting a riot. But I guess to this day, it’s going to be something that Limp Bizkit f**ked up.”

He also told the Washington Post: “I didn’t see anybody getting hurt. You don’t see that. When you’re looking out on a sea of people and the stage is 20 feet in the air and you’re performing, and you’re feeling your music, how do they expect us to see something bad going on?”

Who are Limp Bizkit?

Limp Bizkit are an American rap rock band from Florida, and consists of singer Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers.

The band first formed in 1994 and they released their debut album Three Dollar Bill, Y’all in 1997 after signing with Flip Records. It was through their second and third studio albums, titled Significant Other and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water respectively, that the band saw mainstream success.

They’re best known for songs like Rollin’, Break Stuff, Behind Blue Eyes, Nookie, My Generation, Take a Look Around and Faith.

Over the course of their musical career, Limp Bizkit have released six studio albums in total - Three Dollar Bill, Y’all in 1997, Significant Other in 1999, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water in 2000, Results May Vary in 2003, Gold Cobra in 2011, and Still Sucks in 2021.