White influencer accuses AI of editing her face on Black model’s body
Influencer Lauren Blake Boultier has claimed AI is to blame for an inappropriate Instagram picture that showed her face edited onto the body of a Black model.
Boultier, a white beauty and lifestyle influencer with more than 1.6 million followers on Instagram, recently posted a photo making it seem as though she had attended the Miami Open last month. The image showed her in the stands of a tennis arena, wearing an all-white mini skirt and T-shirt ensemble, accessorized with a green Louis Vuitton purse and a matching green-and-white sweater tied around her shoulders.
Several people, however, quickly pointed out that the photo appeared to match an image posted by Black model Tatiana Elizabeth at the 2024 U.S. Open.
In a statement shared Wednesday on Instagram, Boultier addressed the incident, blaming AI for creating the edited image. “I want to address a recent post created by a third-party Al content agency I’ve been working with,” she began. “It was brought to my attention that an image posted utilized the work and likeness of a Black creator in a way that is entirely inconsistent with my values.”
“I take full responsibility for what appears on my platforms. The post was removed,” she continued, adding that she had “spoken with the creator privately to apologize.”
“I will have more oversight with my agency to ensure my content is handled with the integrity and respect it deserves moving forward,” she said.
“I am deeply sorry for the hurt this has caused the original creator and the community at large,” Boultier concluded. “Thank you to those that have spoken up. I am listening and I am committed to doing better.”
Within hours of Boultier’s statement, Elizabeth spoke to TMZ, dismissing the apology as insincere and claiming the influencer was trying to “avoid blame.”
She confirmed that Boultier did indeed contact her the day before in a message saying that she would “reach out to me later with a formal apology.”
“She reached out again with a written apology note, and then she later unsent that and then sent another apology note,” Elizabeth said. “It’s just been weird.”
Asked if she accepted Boultier’s apology, Elizabeth hesitated: “Not particularly because I don’t think that it’s coming from a super sincere place. I think that she just wants the situation to blow over.
“I don’t think she was honest. I don’t think she was authentic in her apology. I think she’s just saying what she thinks she needs to say in order to kind of move past this.”
The Independent has contacted Boultier for comment.
