Model alleges her face was altered with AI to appear white, says it is 'highly dehumanizing'

A massive controversy erupted when a Taiwanese American model claimed that a renowned designer digitally altered her picture on a runway to make her look white. The model, Shereen Wu, in a TikTok video talked about the incident and said the matter is extremely dehumanizing. The video of the model has gone viral and garnered more than 1 million views in the last week.

What was the entire matter?

Wu claims that designer Michael Costello, who has a reputation for working with elite models like Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, and Beyoncé, posted a photo from a recent fashion show in Los Angeles on his Instagram. Wu is pictured in the picture sporting the stylish black ballgown she debuted on the runway, but her face has been Photoshopped to make her appear white.

Further, in a statement posted on Instagram by Costello, which was removed within 24 hours, the designer refused the allegations of altering the picture of Wu. He further added that the picture was sent to him as a 'fan art' from an unspecified source, yet he acknowledged responsibility for sharing it.


The statement by the designer mentioned that he did not consider the implication of sharing the fan art on his Instagram stories. He also said that he was very much overwhelmed by the content he was tagged in and that he couldn't pay attention while posting stories.

Wu, 21, is an independent model who is not signed to an agency and she relies on small jobs for her living. The model added that she did not get paid for the show, which took place during Art Hearts, a Los Angeles fashion week.

Further, explaining the matter, the model said that not being paid is not a huge issue for her, as long as it gets her face out there. She added that she was expected to be paid in exposure. However, this is not exposure, because the picture was edited.

Wu said that the first person to realize that her face had been replaced was her mother. "Who would remove someone's head like that?" was my first thought, said Wu. "My mother had to witness her daughter's face cut, so my next reaction was fear, followed by a sense of melancholy."

Following Costello's legal action warning in response to her viral TikTok video, Wu reached out to the Model Alliance, an organization advocating for the rights of fashion industry professionals, which then connected her with a legal representative

As soon as the reaction of the model to her pictures went online, the matter grabbed attention, and now the controversy has transcended borders, with netizens expressing their outrage over the matter.

FAQs:

Q1: Who is Michael Costello?
Michael Costello is a designer who has a reputation for working with elite models like Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, and Beyoncé.

Q2: Who was the designer accused of altering the face of a Taiwanese American model with an AI?
The designer accused of altering the face of a Taiwanese-American model with an AI was Michael Costello.