GOP’s Blackburn releases AI Kendrick Lamar video, to some criticism

Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn on Tuesday released a video appearing to use artificial intelligence to have her resemble rapper Kendrick Lamar during his 2025 Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show performance.

The video depicts Blackburn, who is running for governor , on a football field, backed up by Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), state Sen. Brent Taylor (R) and WWE professional wrestler Kane. The wrestler, whose real name is Glenn Thomas Jacobs, served as the mayor of Knox County, Tenn., until last September.

Blackburn is seen in the video singing into a microphone, with Lamar’s “Not Like Us” playing in the background. Lamar played the song, a dis track against fellow rapper Drake, during the halftime show in 2025.

Blackburn posted the video to the social platform X, with the caption: “Tomorrow. Ready to roll.”

Comments on the post slammed the video, with some calling it “ AI slop ” while others urged Blackburn to take the video down .

Another comment reacted to the video with a photo of Sen. Katie Britt’s (R-Ala.) reaction after Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and his staff appeared to mix up the Iowa Hawkeyes with the Atlanta Hawks during former special counsel Jack Smith’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee late last month.

“When I say please stop using AI to support our campaign, this is what I mean,” Blackburn’s Democratic gubernatorial opponent, Jerri Green, wrote on X in response to the video.

Lamar has not publicly reacted to Blackburn’s video, nor have his representatives released a statement.

Blackburn has spoken out against the use of deepfakes made with AI without licensing or approval after musical artists approached lawmakers in May 2025. She and Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) introduced the No Fakes Act to protect the voice and visual likenesses of individuals and creators from being used without permission.

“This is something that would provide that extra protection for these creators, so whether it’s copying their voice or copying their works, they have a legal standing and a right to defend themself and their creation,” Blackburn said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on intellectual property in November 2024.

A version of the No Fakes Act was introduced in May and forwarded to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Lamar notably used deepfake technology for the music video for his 2022 song “The Heart Part 5,” part of his “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” album.

Throughout the video, Lamar morphs from O.J. Simpson to Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, then to actors Jussie Smollett and Will Smith, before changing into the late Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and the late Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle. The song’s lyrics correspond with each face and were intended to be from their perspectives.