Tatiana Elizabeth is not impressed with influencer Lauren Blake’s apology after an AI superimposed her face on a photo the model previously shared.
“I don’t think it’s coming from a sincere place,” Elizabeth told TMZ Sports on Thursday, April 2. “I think she just wants the situation to blow over and to get back to scheduled programming. I don’t think she was honest. I don’t think she is authentic in her apology. I think she’s just saying what she thinks she needs to say in order to move past this.”
Earlier this week, Elizabeth, who is a Black woman, called out Blake, who is white, for using her image as her own.
“Bar for bar. The weirdest part about this is that it’s not even an AI influencer. This is a real person who used AI to put her head on my body,” Elizabeth wrote via Threads on Monday, March 30. “She geotagged MIAMI as if she’s at the Miami Open. When my photo was taken at the US Open two years ago.”
Elizabeth included both her and Blake’s images for side-by-side comparisons. The background and outfits matched, with both women wearing a white tennis skirt and cropped t-shirt with a green and white striped long-sleeve shirt tied at the neck. They both also carried a green Louis Vuitton purse on the same shoulder. Blake’s image is more zoomed in compared to Elizabeth’s photo.
After calling out the influencer, Blake took down the image and apologized.
“I want to address a recent post created by a third-party AI content agency I’ve been working with. It was brought to my attention that the image used posted utilized the work and likeness of a Black creator in a way that is entirely inconsistent with my values,” Blake wrote in a statement shared via Instagram on Wednesday, April 1. “I take full responsibility for what appears on my platforms.”
Blake added that she spoke “privately” with Elizabeth to apologize and vowed to have more “oversight” on what she posts.
“I am deeply sorry for the hurt this has caused the original creator and the community at large,” she continued. “Thank you for those that have spoken up. I am listening and I am committed to doing better.”
Blake is an influencer with more than 1.6 million followers on Instagram. Elizabeth, for her part, is a model with 354K followers on Instagram. Elizabeth first posted the photo in September 2024 after attending the US Open in New York City.
“Came to serve🎾✨,” she captioned the slideshow. “Such an honorrrrr attending the US Open with the ICON & legend @serenawilliams ✨ so beautiful inside and out, so kind, so humble, my new bestie in my head lol wow what an amazing day 😍🤎 thank you @wyn & @ultabeauty.”
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