White Influencer Caught Using AI to Place Her Face on Black Woman’s Body in Stolen US Open Photos
“This is creepy beyond reason” — a white content creator quietly posted doctored photos of herself at the US Open tennis tournament, but her plan unraveled spectacularly when the Black woman whose body she digitally hijacked recognized her own images and exposed the AI-generated fraud to millions of TikTok followers.
Content creator Lauren Blake Boultier almost got away with stealing beauty influencer Tatiana Elizabeth’s viral photos from the 2024 US Open, where Elizabeth was a guest of tennis legend Serena Williams. Boultier used artificial intelligence to replace Elizabeth’s face with her own, then geotagged the images as if she had attended matches in Miami in March 2026.
But the algorithm had other plans. Elizabeth stumbled upon the duplicate while scrolling Instagram on March 30 and immediately recognized her own body, her own outfit, and her own environment — with a stranger’s face awkwardly pasted on top.
The Discovery: ‘She Put Her Head on My Body’
Elizabeth blasted the fraudulent activity to her TikTok followers in a now-viral video, using side-by-side comparisons to highlight the theft.
“This is a real person who used AI to put her head on my body,” Elizabeth said in the video. “She geotagged MIAMI. When my photo was taken at the US Open two years ago.”
The original images showed Elizabeth, a fashion and beauty influencer, attending the 2024 US Open as a guest of Serena Williams — a significant achievement that Elizabeth had worked hard to earn. Boultier’s doctored versions kept Elizabeth’s outfit, her background, her lighting, and even her pose, but swapped in a different face.
“I’m just — I’m a little perplexed,” Elizabeth continued. “I just wanna know what was the reason? Has social media gotten to our heads so much that we are completely disregarding couth? She’s probably embarrassed, which she should be.”
The Apology That Made Things Worse
Soon after Elizabeth’s video went viral, Boultier sent a private direct message assuring Elizabeth that the controversy would be addressed. But the initial response was vague — Boultier claimed she was dealing with “a lot of moving parts” and would respond properly later.
A lengthier explanation followed, but critics noted that Boultier buried her apology under defensive statements. “I got hit with the most hateful things I’ve ever had said to me and my family,” she wrote, portraying herself as a victim of the backlash.
She continued: “I actually hadn’t even seen the original whatsoever but my team and I been experimenting with AI tools for my content workflow and this was a huge wake-up call for me. You don’t deserve this. I feel awful about it.”
Boultier also admitted to seeking counsel from a PR firm but felt their prepared statements “sounded disingenuous.” She claimed reaching out to Elizabeth directly was an attempt to “take accountability and apologize.”
Elizabeth’s Response: ‘She Doesn’t Understand the Weight’
Elizabeth was not satisfied. She shared screenshots of the messages with her followers, pointing out what she saw as deflection and blame-shifting.
“I don’t know if she thinks I’m stupid, dumb, or blind; however, I know that to use AI, you need a prompt,” Elizabeth said in a follow-up video. “I’ve tried to give her so much grace. It was never my intention to bash this girl. Now it’s become a bigger problem.”
Elizabeth noted that Boultier’s second message tried to blame a “third-party AI content agency” and claimed that “an image was generated that was pretty much identical” to Elizabeth’s original without anyone verifying it.
“In that process, an image was generated that was pretty much identical. I posted it without properly verifying it against the original which I had not even seen. I should have checked, and I didn’t,” Boultier wrote.
Elizabeth saw through the excuse. “I’m dealing with someone who just doesn’t truly understand the weight of what she did and doesn’t care,” she said. “She’s trying to shift blame onto her ‘team,’ and she’s trying to shift blame onto an ‘AI service.'”
The Racial Dimension
The incident has ignited a broader conversation about race, digital theft, and the erasure of Black women’s images.
Elizabeth made the racial dynamics explicit in her response. “As a Black woman, I have had to work so hard to be in some of the rooms that I’ve been in,” she said. Being a guest of Serena Williams at the US Open was not an accident — it was the result of years of building her brand and establishing credibility.
For Boultier to simply copy Elizabeth’s images, replace her face with a white woman’s, and claim the experience as her own struck many observers as a form of digital erasure — literally removing a Black woman from her own success and replacing her with someone else.
One TikTok user commented: “This is literally cosplay of a Black woman.” Another wrote: “She knew. She just didn’t expect to get caught.”
Boultier’s Public Apology and Backlash
Boultier eventually posted a public apology on Instagram, but she disabled comments — preventing any direct feedback or criticism. In the statement, she again blamed a “third-party AI content agency” and acknowledged that the generated image used “the work and likeness of a Black creator in a way that is entirely inconsistent with my values.”
“The post was removed and I have spoken with the creator privately to apologize,” Boultier wrote. “I will have more oversight with my agency to ensure my content is handled with the integrity and respect it deserves moving forward.”
Critics were unimpressed. One TikTok user noted: “She deleted my comment and limited ALL comments.” Others pointed out that Boultier’s apology was focused on her own feelings — the hate she received, the stress she endured — rather than on the harm she caused Elizabeth.
One follower of Elizabeth asked: “Why the message tryna make it seem like she’s blaming you in a way?” Another defended Boultier, asking: “She apologized what else do you want?” — a comment that itself drew backlash from those who felt the apology was insufficient and self-serving.
The Bigger Picture: AI and Digital Theft
This incident highlights a growing problem in the age of generative AI. Tools that can swap faces, generate images from prompts, and manipulate existing photos have made it easier than ever to steal someone’s work — and their likeness.
Elizabeth noted that using AI requires a prompt. Someone had to type instructions telling the AI to generate an image based on Elizabeth’s original photo. That someone, she argued, was Boultier or someone acting on her direct orders. The claim that an AI service generated an identical image “by accident” strains credulity.
The comment section of Elizabeth’s original US Open photo is now flooded with people declaring her the “blueprint” — a term of respect acknowledging that her image, her style, and her success were worth stealing. It is cold comfort, but it is recognition.
For Boultier, the fallout continues. Her credibility as an influencer is shattered. Her attempts at apology have been rejected as disingenuous. And the internet does not forget.
For Elizabeth, the incident is a reminder of the work Black women must do to protect their images and their accomplishments. “Keep the apology if there’s no accountability attached,” she wrote in a caption. “Because if this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone… especially smaller creators.”
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Writer: Sam Michael