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A white influencer with over 1.6 million followers has been accused of editing her face onto a black influencer’s body in a bizarre move that has gone viral on social media.
Tatiana Elizabeth, who is African-American, took to TikTok this week to explain how she discovered fellow content creator Lauren Blake Boultier had digitally altered her photo.
In September 2024, Elizabeth attended the US Open tennis tournament in New York, sharing a photo of herself court side in a matching white tennis-inspired outfit with her 350,000 followers.
“So, this photo to the right is a photo of me at the US Open in 2024,” Elizabeth said on TikTok.
“This photo to the left is a photo that I came across this morning on Instagram of someone who castrated me and decided to use my image and my environment.”
She then gestured towards a photo shared by Boultier that looks nearly identical to Elizabeth’s 2024 photo — except for the face.
Boultier’s features the same outfit, a green and white cardigan, a Louis Vuitton handbag, and even the same pose at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens.
Elizabeth even pointed out that the same tattoo appears on the right wrist in both photos.
“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 said.
Boultier even geotagged Miami as if she’s at the Miami Open – which recently concluded – despite the stadium clearly being in Queens.
“By no means am I trying to bash this girl. Mental health is real, and I’m not a bully,” Elizabeth added.
“I’m just a little perplexed. I just want to know the reason. Has social media gotten into our heads so much that we are disregarding couth?”
Elizabeth said she hasn’t heard anything from Boultier, despite commenting on the photo.
“She has not apologized, she has not given an explanation, and she is probably embarrassed but I think that the nice and accountable thing to do would be to reach out and at least apologize to the person whose photo you took,” she said.
Commenters rushed to support Elizabeth and share their same confusion.
“This is insane,” one wrote, as another called it “so odd”.
“Has the world gone mad?” a third asked.
Boultier has since deleted the photo.
News.com.au has reached out to both influencers for comment.
While Boultier is a real person, her behavior mirrors that of “virtual influencers” or AI-generated content creators who paste fake faces on real models’ bodies.
It’s part of a growing industry of AI-generated models, which are increasingly taking over platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
Many of these accounts are connected to OnlyFans models, offering fans paid subscriptions for adult content.
Shockingly, there are several online explainer videos detailing how the technology works, including a YouTube video with 340,000 views detailing how to steal photos and videos from real people.
“We’ll use an AI tool to swap faces and create an original video that looks exactly like our AI-generated model,” the narrator says.
“To start the process, we need to find some Reels with similar body shapes and hair colors.”
The narrator then picks a random Instagram user’s profile, downloads all its Reels, and uses a tool to swap the AI-generated model’s face onto the stranger’s body.
“It’s really cool, and looks like our model,” the narrator adds.
“Face-swap” apps have also become more popular, allowing users to create deepfakes directly on their phones.
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