Megan Thee Stallion the Latest Victim of Deepfake Porn — X/Twitter ‘Proactively Removing’ Clips

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Megan Thee Stallion becomes the latest victim of deepfake porn, speaking out while Twitter claims to be ‘proactively’ remove the clips.A sexually explicit deepfake video of rapper Megan Thee Stallion has been circulating on X, formerly known as Twitter, over the weekend. The Elon Musk-owned platform, which has “rules [prohibiting] the sharing of non-consensual intimate media,” claims it has been “proactively removing this content.”

“It’s really sick how y’all go out of the way to hurt me when you see me winning,” Megan Thee Stallion posted on the former Twitter on Saturday. “Just know today was your last day playing with me and I mean it.”

Deepfakes, which refer to digital media generated or altered with manipulation tools, have been cropping up at an alarming clip since artificial intelligence technology hit the general public. Many of the most prominent examples feature a simple “face-swap” of individuals, putting the faces of celebrities over pornographic material.

NBC News reports viewing 18 posts on X over the weekend that contained the fake Megan Thee Stallion video, including one with a side-by-side of the original video used to create it. Of those, six had over 300,000 views each. By Monday, some of those posts had been removed.Elon Musk’s X has been used in the past to spread deepfakes of celebrities, particularly women — most notably of Taylor Swift, with one post having been viewed 47 million times before it was taken down, according to the New York Times. The platform temporarily paused the ability to search Swift’s name for three days during the incident.

Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, has been a frequent target of online harassment, particularly since she was shot in the foot by fellow rapper Tory Lanez in 2020. A hip-hop news commentator who was notably critical of the shooting incident during the trial reportedly “drew attention” to the deepfake of the star during a livestream over the weekend.

A legal representative for Megan Thee Stallion told NBC News that they were “exploring all legal options” related to the misinformation spread about her.