An AI-generated image of actor Mia Goth in a T-shirt declaring “MY EX IS MY BIGGEST FAN” raced across Instagram after news broke that she had filed for divorce from actor and filmmaker Shia LaBeouf. The post, set to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” came from an account with a blue checkmark and more than a million followers. It was not Goth’s account, and her representatives say the image was fake.
That distinction did not stop the post from collecting hundreds of thousands of likes, including from people in the entertainment industry. Entertainment outlets including OK! and People also covered it as if it were authentic. Screenshots then carried the image to other social platforms, where a misleading post can keep doing laps long after its original source disappears.
Goth’s representative, Christine Tripicchio, told The Verge that Goth “does not have ownership of, nor does she engage in social media on any platform.” Tripicchio said her team had filed multiple complaints asking Instagram to remove the account, which it described as a verified fan account that repeatedly posted counterfeit AI images of Goth. The representative called the account’s blue check “disconcerting” and said it was “incomprehensible” that Instagram appeared to prioritize spreading manipulated images over protecting Goth’s likeness.
That is the complaint in plain English: the badge looked like a signal of authenticity, even though the account was fan-run. Meta changed what a blue check means when it began selling verification, allowing accounts to obtain badges without being official profiles of the people shown in their posts. The badge may confirm something about an account’s subscription or status; it is no longer a dependable shortcut for “this is definitely Mia Goth.” A tiny checkmark now comes with a rather large asterisk.
Meta did not immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment. As of Tuesday morning, the miagoth_ account appeared to have been wiped from Instagram. That is a step after the fact, not an explanation of why repeated removal complaints did not prevent the image from spreading.
Meta’s approach to AI fakes also leaves a gap. The company labels some generative AI content rather than banning AI-generated depictions of real people. Photorealistic AI videos may require an AI label under its rules, but still images are exempt from that requirement. So an image can look convincing, travel widely and arrive without the warning viewers might expect.
Actors and musicians have been raising concerns about unauthorized AI depictions for years. In 2024, Scarlett Johansson said OpenAI used a voice resembling hers for ChatGPT after she declined to work on the project. That year, Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris for president and said AI-generated images of her shared by Donald Trump made her realize she needed to “combat misinformation” about her vote.
For users, the practical lesson is irritatingly old-fashioned: a platform badge is not proof that a celebrity posted something. Look for confirmation from an official channel, and be wary of viral screenshots presented without a reliable source. For Meta, removing one account does not answer the harder question: how should a platform distinguish a fan page from an authentic voice when its verification badge no longer reliably does that job?
Sources: Glitch Please! and The Verge — https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1010277/mia-goth-instagram-ai-shirt-deepfake-divorce — Reporting and source for the account details, representative’s statements, Meta policy description, and cited examples.
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