A white influencer named Lauren Blake was caught red-handed using artificial intelligence to steal a black creator’s entire aesthetic and pass it off as her own in a bizarre screw-up of epic proportions.
The 1.6 million-follower influencer took a photo of Tatiana Elizabeth at the 2024 U.S. Open, swapped her own face onto Elizabeth’s body using AI technology, then posted it, claiming she was at the Miami Open instead.
That’s not inspiration. That’s theft with a filter.
Elizabeth discovered the theft when she spotted her own image circulating on Blake’s page, complete with matching clothes, accessories, and pose.
The only difference was Blake’s face where Elizabeth’s should’ve been.
According to TMZ, Elizabeth called out the move immediately, posting side-by-side comparisons that made the copying impossible to deny.
“Bar for bar,” Elizabeth said. “The weirdest part about this is that it’s not even an A.I. influencer. This is a real person who used A.I. to put her head on my body.”
Blake’s response? She blamed her team’s AI content system, claiming she had never seen the original image and hadn’t intentionally copied anyone’s work.
“That shouldn’t have happened, and I take full responsibility,” Blake told TMZ Sports. “This came from an A.I. content system my team uses to generate images at scale. I did not see the original image or intentionally set out to copy anyone’s work, but that doesn’t change the outcome.”
She continued, “I understand this impacted another creator, especially when it comes to respecting original work, and I never want to contribute to that kind of frustration or harm within the creative community that I have been a part of for 10 years.”
The influencer deleted the post and promised to personally approve all future content.
She’s also vowed to ensure “proper originality and respect for others’ work” on her platform. Blake added she’s “listening and appreciative” of the feedback, though Elizabeth hadn’t heard from her directly at the time of the initial outrage.