The real-life threat of AI-generated images is unfortunately in full swing, which has led to several high-profile celebrities exposing its danger — including modern-day scream queen Jenna Ortega.
Over the last few years, Ortega, 21, has skyrocketed into public stardom and become one of the brightest young actors in the industry. As a result, interest in Ortega’s career and life has unsurprisingly grown, so it’s no wonder her name is consistently trending on multiple social outlets. Unfortunately for her, the disgusting pile of AI-generated images being promoted and celebrated over on Elon Musk’s X platform has also grown.
While speaking in a recent New York Times podcast interview, the Scream VI star gave a little insight as to why she packed up and decided to close her X account. To the surprise of no one, Ortega pointed the finger at explicit AI images, stating that edited nude photos of her as a young teenager were horrifyingly sent to her after Netflix’s Wednesday series blew up.
“It’s terrifying. It’s corrupt. It’s wrong. It’s disgusting,” Ortega explained in the interview, all while also recounting a repulsive interaction on Musk’s X where she opened a direct message and saw a graphic and unsolicited photo of a male’s genitals. From there, her disgust for the platform only grew, and she ultimately decided to quit X and solely remain on Instagram as a way to connect with fans.
Ortega’s stance on AI-generated photos is hardly surprising, seeing as the threat only continues to increase and Musk seemingly does nothing to prevent it from happening. Republican candidate Donald Trump has simultaneously promoted the use of AI images, posting several on his own X account as a way to insinuate Taylor Swift had “endorsed” and “supported” his presidential campaign — that turned out to be completely false.
Nevertheless, AI-generated content is quickly becoming a vicious tool that is showing no signs of slowing down, so Ortega jumping ship from X to Instagram was undoubtedly in her best interest. Now she just needs to find a way to rid herself of Beetlejuice, too.