Blackburn posts AI Kendrick Lamar video for governor bid
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn posted an AI-generated clip that puts her in Kendrick Lamar's place during his Super Bowl performance of "Not Like Us." She shared it on X with the caption: "Tomorrow. Ready to roll."
The clip recreates Lamar's appearance at the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show in New Orleans in February 2025. In the altered footage, Blackburn dances to the track in his position on stage. Artificial intelligence in this context means software that can create or alter video to show people doing things they did not do.
She is not alone in the edit. The video shows her flanked by four other Tennessee Republicans: wrestler Glenn Jacobs, known as Kane, U.S. Representative Tim Burchett, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty and state Senator Brent Taylor, according to Billboard. The group is shown moving together to the song in the AI version of the halftime set.
Blackburn posted the video in connection with her bid to become governor of Tennessee. The caption gave no further detail about what event the "tomorrow" referred to.
Criticism followed quickly on X. Several users called the post "painfully cringe" and "AI slop." Another user called it an "AI cringe fest," as reported by Yahoo News.
Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Jerri Green also replied on X. "When I say please stop using AI to support our campaign, this is what I mean," she wrote.
The song at the centre of the clip has had recent chart and awards success. "Not Like Us" topped the Billboard Hot 100, the chart that ranks the most popular singles in the United States. At the 2025 Grammy Awards, the annual US music awards, it won five categories: song of the year, record of the year, best rap song, best rap performance and best music video.
Lamar performed the track during his halftime show at Super Bowl LIX, the National Football League's championship game. That live staging later brought him a second Primetime Emmy in the outstanding music direction category, which honours music supervision for television.
Lamar had not commented on Blackburn's use of his performance. The video was still visible on Blackburn's X account when the reaction was reported on 14 October 2026.
