The co-creator of a viral video using AI-generated celebrities to protest Kanye West‘s antisemitism has defended his decision to use the stars’ likenesses without their permission.
The video features AI-generated versions of Mark Zuckerberg, Scarlett Johansson, Drake, David Schwimmer, Jerry Seinfeld, Ben Stiller and more sporting a white t-shirt with the Star of David in a middle finger emblem, with West’s name written beneath it.
Adam Sandler, Mila Kunis, Jack Black, Natalie Portman, Steven Spielberg are among the other major stars whose likeness is used in the video, which serves as a direct response to West’s long history of antisemitic comments and his recent attempt to sell a swastika t-shirt on his website.
In a new interview with The Jewish Chronicle, Guy Bar, the Israeli founder of an AI tech hub called Elevaitor, explained why he decided to use AI-generated celebrities instead of Jewish activities to make the video.
“It had to be [created] very, very fast. If you take time [after West’s T-shirt controversy], it wouldn’t be relevant,” said Bar. “You must make very quick decisions.
“They are very famous. They are the most famous Jewish [celebrities] in the world. They are very relevant to Kanye West’s world. In a perfect world, the real [people would be] doing [the video with] their voice. I wish they would share it and say, ‘We definitely agree with this video, we want to spread it all over.’”
At the time of writing, none of the celebrities whose likeness was used in the AI video have reacted to the viral clip.
Over the past few weeks, West – now legally known as Ye – has courted considerable controversy. Last week, the rapper attended the Grammys red carpet with his wife Bianca Censori, who wore a see-through dress revealing her fully nude figure.
He later revealed in an interview that he has autism and believes he had been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016. He also shared that he had stopped taking his bipolar disorder medication.
He then made his return to X (formerly Twitter) by voicing his support for Diddy and Chris Brown, and urged for the former to be released from prison amid sexual abuse allegations.
His X posts grew increasingly more concerning as he began to claim “dominion” over his wife Censori and went on a rant withdrawing his apology to the Jewish community for past anti-Semitic comments, as well as declaring himself as “a Nazi”.
Following the Super Bowl on Monday (February), West directed followers to his site, where a single item – a white t-shirt with a large swastika on the chest listed as “HH-01” – was listed on sale. The site has since been taken down, and Kanye’s X account has been deactivated.