They said what? Lip readers decode celebrity whispers

Nina Dellinger was 16 when she realised she could read lips.

She was zoning out in math class, she said, and it struck her that she could understand what a classmate was saying across the room, even though she couldn’t hear a word.

For years, Dellinger kept this skill to herself, practising in secret in social situations, making it a game. That changed in 2020, when she joined TikTok and found that she could rack up followers by interpreting the whispered, caught-on-camera conversations of celebrities and other prominent people.

At the 65th annual Grammy Awards in February, Ben and Jennifer Affleck appeared to be in the middle of a tense but inaudible conversation at their table. Ordinarily, a celebrity couple’s off-mic conversation would remain a mystery to anyone out of earshot, but Dellinger filled in the blanks.

In a video she posted to TikTok, she said that the former Jennifer Lopez appeared to have said, “Prove it.” Then, after a pause, Jennifer Affleck repeated the same thing: “Prove it.” Dellinger’s video has more than 12 million views.

Dellinger has decoded nearly 100 such seen-but-not-heard moments. They include Matt Gaetz and Kevin McCarthy on the floor of the House of Representatives; Taylor Swift dishing to Phoebe Bridgers at the iHeartRadio Music Awards; an on-court taunt between two players at the NCAA women’s basketball championship; and actor Miles Teller talking to a Philadelphia Eagles player at the Super Bowl.

Lip reading perhaps marks a new era, or devolution, in celebrity culture. One wonders if people in the public eye will start covering their mouths when they are in the vicinity of a camera, like pitchers and catchers during mound visits.

Dellinger, 26, lives in Belize, where she moved from her native Southern California a year and a half ago to start her dream business of operating a cruise company. She said she did not set out to become “lip reading girl,” as she is referred to by her TikTok fans, or to amass nearly 1 million followers on the platform.

“I didn’t understand how much of a phenomenon it would be,” Dellinger said in a phone interview.

Lip reading is hardly an exact science. Jeremy Freeman, 49, who has been called upon as an expert lip reader in cases involving sexual assault, insurance fraud and other serious matters, described it as a skill that can be honed with considerable practice. For Freeman, who was born deaf, the practice has “been ingrained in me since I was brought up,” he said.

He said he still relies on other cues, like body language and social context, to determine what is being said. “There is guessing involved,” said Freeman, who works as a writer near London. “I would never say I can lip read 100 per cent accurately.” Certain people, like Scottish comedian and actor Billy Connolly, confound him. “I find him impossible to lip read,” Freeman said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.