This Jenna Ortega TikTok account has 1M followers, but she isn’t real
The deepfake likely made a lot of money, too.
Jenna Ortega by Getty/Aurore Marechal
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- A TikTok account using an AI-generated Jenna Ortega lookalike has gained about 1 million followers.
- One 15-second video reportedly drew 67.6 million views and may be worth about $27,000.
- The account previously labeled content as AI-generated, but newer videos reportedly no longer include that label.
- TikTok requires realistic AI content to be labeled and prohibits accounts that mislead users through impersonation.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
A TikTok account posing as Jenna Ortega is racking up millions of views and possibly making thousands of dollars off the Wednesday star's likeness.
The account, Friday Adams on TikTok, has roughly 1 million followers and has accumulated millions of views on its videos.
The creator amassed 67.6 million views on a single 15-second video, reportedly worth around $27,000.
While the character in the videos bears a striking resemblance to the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star, the influencer is AI-generated.
Real Ortega previously said she was "terrified... of deep uncertainty" that comes with AI, and suggested that "a computer has no soul."
Despite telltale signs like super-long doorknobs and changes to the persona’s appearance depending on the angle, some users appear to believe the account is the real Jenna Ortega.
What’s more, the account is urging its followers to subscribe to chat with the impersonator.
“Subscribe for more talk with me,” the account bio reads.
Cybernews couldn’t find any other platforms the account belongs to that would allow its followers to pay to chat with a fake Ortega.
The X account Kelmruns, the original source reporting on the TikTok account, claims the fake Ortega was generated using OpenAI’s flagship reasoning model GPT Astra 6.
Kelm, supposedly an AI business developer who has previously worked for Facebook and Duolingo, explains how users can create their own viral AI influencers.
It’s unclear whether Kelm is the creator of the fake Ortega account. Cybernews has reached out to them for comment.
For a time, the Friday Adams account labeled its content as AI-generated. Despite this, many people chose to believe they were interacting with the actress.
Now, it seems that the account has abandoned transparency in favor of views, as its latest videos don’t feature an AI label, which directly conflicts with TikTok’s terms and conditions.
TikTok should take the account down
While TikTok allows AI-generated content on its platform, it expects users to label any AI-generated content.
“To support authentic and transparent experiences for our community, we encourage creators to label content that has been either completely generated or significantly edited by AI,” TikTok policy says.
Content that is significantly edited by AI, meaning the user has used real images or videos as source material, which has been edited beyond minor aesthetic fixes or enhancements, is recognized as AI content.
This means videos depicting people engaging in activities, like viral dances, that they have never done online, or if people are portrayed saying something they’ve never said.
Deepfakes and face swaps count as AI-generated content, and TikTok requires users to label content that contains realistic images, audio, and videos that are synthetically created.
TikTok’s own community guidelines require users to label AI content to avoid the spread of misinformation and limit impersonation.
Impersonation accounts are strictly prohibited on TikTok, as the platform says in bold, “We do not allow account behavior that may spam or mislead our community.”
However, the AI impersonation account is still active at the time of writing.
Cybernews has reached out to TikTok and Jenna Ortega’s management for comment.
