IAMDDB says Israel-shared AI video used her likeness without consent

IAMDDB said an apparent AI-generated propaganda video shared by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs used her likeness without consent, raising fresh concerns over the use of artists’ identities in political messaging. The posts were later deleted from the government’s social-media accounts. The video surfaced on Oct. 16 and showed a Black woman with braids performing a rap titled “Jews From Judea (We Did).” Its lyrics defended a Jewish connection to Judea, including the line: “Colonizers? Say the name/Jews from Judea, it’s in the damn name.” Rafael Shimunov first identified the performer as closely resembling IAMDDB, the Angolan-Portuguese rapper and singer whose real name is Diana Adelaide Rocha De Brito. He found an image of the musician in what appeared to be the same hairstyle and clothing as the video character, and called the use of her image “digital blackface.” The video had received 1.6 million views on X when freelance journalist Andrew Esensten reported on it. IAMDDB responded directly to the ministry’s original X post, asking why her identity had been used for something she “100% did not consent to.” She later said she had neither authorized nor participated in the video and that her image, artistry and identity could not be used without permission to promote political messaging. She said the exploitation of Black artists, particularly Black women, was not new, but that AI was creating another means of appropriating identity and creativity. “My image is mine. My voice is mine. My values are mine,” she said, while expressing solidarity with Palestinians experiencing loss, displacement and violence. Esensten identified the video’s creator as Eyal Ben Moshe, an Israeli-born New Jersey resident who works under the name Eyal Be. Ben Moshe said he made the video the previous month and that the ministry later sought permission to post the song; he said the government had not paid him. Ben Moshe said the video was the third he had made featuring a fictional Israeli rapper called Nova, after TikTok removed the first two for guideline violations. He said his original prompt asked for a Latina rapper, but he selected one Black-generated version because it “looked cooler.” He said he did not know IAMDDB and could not determine which reference images the models had used, although he acknowledged that photographs online appeared to show the model drawing on her images. IAMDDB said she had performed in Israel when she was younger, but that she would have made a different decision had she then understood the situation as she does now. She said she planned to donate part of proceeds from upcoming shows to charities supporting causes close to her heart.