Mariah Carey Denies Being AI-Generated in Spotify Wrapped Video

A still from Mariah Carey’s Spotify Wrapped video (above). Fans claimed the singer had used an AI-generated likeness of herself in the clip.

Mariah Carey has dismissed claims that she used generative AI to make her Spotify Wrapped video, following accusations from social media users.

On Tuesday, Carey released a video to thank fans who were listed as her top fans on Spotify Wrapped, an annual round-up of users’ listening habits on the streaming platform for the last year.

In the 20-second clip, Carey, who is wearing red lipstick and a Santa Claus-inspired outfit in a dimly lit set, tells fans: “Your support through the years is the greatest gift I could ask for,”

Bad lighting and a red lip have you all thinking this is AI?? There’s a reason I’m not a fan of either of those things! About to celebrate #Christmastime with my Boston #lambily! 💘💘💘 https://t.co/8guHlMMLSp

— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) December 6, 2024

However, many social media users reacted with suspicion to Carey’s video — with fans questioning whether the singer was real or AI-generated in the footage based on her appearance.

“This has to be AI,” one user writes on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter).

Meanwhile, another fan similarly doubted the singer’s authenticity in the video: “Not Mariah Carey’s Spotify message being AI. We are so doomed.”

However, Carey has responded to the allegations on social media and denied that she used an AI-generated likeness of herself in the clip. Instead, the singer blamed her seeming AI-generated appearance on bad lighting on the set and her red lipstick.

“Bad lighting and a red lip have you all thinking this is AI?” Carey writes in response to a fan account that shared the video on X. “There’s a reason I’m not a fan of either of those things.”

this is not fking AI. she literally shot this after doing a whole photo shoot and probably filmed other promo slots while in costume pic.twitter.com/mLBfDNKIHM

— 🎅🏾✨jamal’s cloud #merrychristmas30🎄 (@cloudzrollby) December 6, 2024

After Carey dismissed the allegations, a social media user used images to support the singer’s assertions that the video was real and not AI-generated. The fan pointed out that the singer appeared to have filmed her Spotify Wrapped message on the same day that she did a photo shoot for her single All I Want for Christmas is You.

The fan says that Carey seems to have filmed the Spotify Wrapped video in an identical festive outfit and the same set as this photo shoot.

 
Image credits: Header photo via Spotify/Mariah Carey.