Lauren Blake Boultier, an influential figure, has expressed her "full responsibility" after another influencer, Tatiana Elizabeth, accused her of using AI to superimpose her face onto Elizabeth's body in a two-year-old photo of herself at the U.S. Open.
After Boultier posted the now-deleted photo on Instagram, Elizabeth took to social media platforms, including Threads and her Instagram Stories, to call out the alleged use of AI to place her face onto Elizabeth's body, specifically on a photo that Elizabeth first posted two years ago. Boultier, who is White, has over 1.6 million Instagram followers.
In a Monday, March 30, Threads post, Elizabeth shared a screenshot of Boultier's photo next to her original, taken at the 2024 U.S. Open. In the original photo, Elizabeth, who is Black, wore a white tennis skirt, a white short-sleeved cropped t-shirt, along with a green-and-white striped cardigan tied around her shoulders, paired with a coordinating green and white Louis Vuitton purse.
Boultier's photo showed her in the exact same outfit, pose, and lighting, along with the same background. "Bar for bar," Elizabeth began Monday's Threads post. "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. She geotagged MIAMI as if she’s at the Miami Open. When my photo was taken at the US open two years ago."
"Well this is..... peculiar...I was here too!!" Elizabeth continued on her Instagram Stories. "In this same exact outfit and the same watch, same bag, picture was taken at the same angle even..omg we even have the same tattoo!!!!!!?"
Elizabeth then re-shared the original photo on her Instagram Stories. "Pretending to be somewhere you weren't, in something you've never worn, as someone you're not... for social media. It's a little scary," Elizabeth concluded.
The influencer also shared a TikTok video about the situation, where she added, "And by no means am I trying to bash this girl into health is real, and I'm not a bully... I'm just, I'm a little perplexed."
"I just want to know what was the reason," Elizabeth continued. "Cause social media got to our heads that much that we are completely disregarding couture?"
A rep for Elizabeth told PEOPLE that "Tatiana hopes this situation raises awareness about how AI can blur reality, which can be unsettling. As of now she has not been in contact with the other party."
"That shouldn’t have happened, and I take full responsibility," Boultier told TMZ Sports on Wednesday, April 1. "This came from an A.I. content system my team uses to generate images at scale," Boultier told TMZ. "I did not see the original image or intentionally set out to copy anyone’s work, but that doesn’t change the outcome."
"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," Boultier added.
"I take full responsibility for what appears on my platforms," Boultier wrote in a Wednesday Instagram statement, in which she also said she spoke with Elizabeth 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," Boultier continued. "I am deeply sorry for the hurt this has caused the original creator and the community at large."
Also on Wednesday, Elizabeth posted screenshots of two apologies she says Boultier sent her via Instagram DM on Threads, as well as the response she sent to Boultier.
