Drag queens issue cease and desist: AI deepfake ad targets North Carolina House candidate Jamie Ager
By Peyton Furtado
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ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WYFF) — A political ad using artificial intelligence-generated imagery to depict North Carolina Democratic House candidate Jamie Ager at a barn dance with drag queens has drawn criticism, legal threats, and calls for new legislation.
We’re a week away from midterm elections, and if you’ve had your TV on, you’ve likely been flooded with campaign ads. Many of those viewers have called our newsroom about the ads, asking if they’re real and why we’re airing them.
Drag queens and barn dances
One ad in particular that uses artificial intelligence to depict North Carolina Democratic House candidate Jamie Ager at a barn dance attended by drag queens has garnered attention and possible legal action.
Some say seeing is believing. But in a campaign season wrought with political ads using AI deepfakes, it’s harder to tell fact from fiction.
“We’ve seen ads on TV where there’s editing, getting involved in ways that people might be distorting the truth. But now we have this new tool that we as a society are not trained to recognize,” said Phil Yanov, founder of Tech After Five. Yanov is well-versed in the AI universe.
The ad in question is paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee, authorized by Balkcom for Congress, and approved by republican candidate and incumbent, Jennifer Balkcom. It depicts Balkcom’s Democratic opponent, Ager, dancing with real drag queens.
Ager’s farm, Hickory Nut Gap, did host an event called the Fantasy Festival in 2019, which advertised several performers, including a group of drag queens.
A Jamie Ager campaign official claims that group didn’t end up attending the event.
We confirmed through the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) that this ad used AI to show drag queens there. So far, it’s captured many viewers’ attention.
“Somebody probably is watching that and thinking, ‘I guess that happened,'” Yanov said.
Drag queens threaten legal action While the ad used AI, it deepfaked real drag queen performers, many from Western North Carolina. We reached out to two, who perform under the names Divine Holeburn and Nova.
“I have never met the man in my life,” Nova said over the phone.
“Okay,” said our reporter, Peyton Furtado. “Have you ever been to his property, been to his barn, and done a performance there?”
“No, I have not,” said Nova.
“I have never met Jamie Ager,” said Divine over the phone. “I have no affiliation with him at all. I have never … I didn’t even know he had a barn until this; this barn dance event was not real.”
Both Divine and Nova are among a group of real people deepfaked into that ad who have sent notices of cease and desist. The Balkcom campaign and NRCC have until November 2nd to stop using AI-generated images of them. If they do not, Divine, Nova, and others have threatened legal action.
“I felt used,” Divine said. “I felt like, what if this person used my image and body to do other things?”
“And, honestly,” Nova said, “I am wanting to see if we can bring new legislation that can stop things like this to the forefront.”
Why do we have to air political ads? Due to FCC regulations, TV stations have to air political ads paid for or sponsored by legally qualified candidates. This ad was approved by Jennifer Balkcom, Ager’s Republican competitor for the House.
Stations cannot legally change or censor the ads, even if they appear to be using AI deepfakes.
Is it legal to use AI in political ads? At least 31 states have passed laws addressing AI-generated content in political ads.
“South Carolina is not one of them,” said Brandi Hinton, an attorney with Ironside Criminal Defense. North Carolina and Georgia don’t have those laws either.
“There is currently no federal law on AI and political ads,” said Hinton.
The result: political ads that could legally make a candidate do or say virtually anything. And those ads are not legally required to say they used AI.
Candidate responses We reached out to Jennifer Balkcom’s campaign, the NRCC, and Jamie Ager’s campaign.
Jamie Ager’s campaign responded, saying they have never used any generative AI in their ads and no drag queens were present at their event in 2019. They offered this statement: “Our opponent is attacking Jamie with 100% fake, AI-generated ads. She can’t win on the truth, so she is using AI to lie. It’s insulting to the intelligence of voters in Western North Carolina and another example of the exact corrupt system he is running against. Jamie got into this race because we can and must do politics better.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee, which paid for the ad, confirmed AI was used. They offered this statement: “Liberal Jamie Ager is sending his left-wing army to attack his political opponents after being exposed for hosting events exposing young children to inappropriate performances from individuals like Sister Domina Trix and Sister Helen Bedd. The NRCC stands by the ad, and Ager owes North Carolina voters answers for why he’s trying to push sexualized performers onto kids.”
We’ve reached out to Jennifer Balkcom’s campaign multiple times over several days, and have not heard back.
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