- Emily Hart was an alleged MAGA influencer.
- It was completely AI generated.
- A 22-year-old Indian student was behind it; he was earning money for his studies.
Emily Hart – one Alleged MAGA influencerwhich is based in the USA with pro-Trump content built up a large conservative following had – doesn’t actually exist.
The blonde woman who posed in bikinis, went ice fishing, drank beer, and even handled weapons was entirely AI generated. Behind the profile was a 22-year-old Indian who used this fictional character to specifically target lonely white men in order to earn money for his studies, as the computer magazine “Wired” found out.
A blonde woman like Jennifer Lawrence
The student, who called himself “Sam” out of fear for his medical studies, used generative AI tools to visually model Emily – supposedly a nurse – on Hollywood star Jennifer Lawrence.
According to his own statements, he started the fraud during financial difficulties during his studies when he wanted to save money to move to the USA. At first he created simple bikini pictures, but then came up with the idea of asking Google’s AI Gemini for strategies for a successful account.
Sam specifically targeted lonely white men
The AI recommended that he target a specific target group – especially older men in the USA who are considered loyal followers and have higher purchasing power. Sam then developed the character of a fake influencer for MAGA supporters.
He was extremely systematic in his approach: every day he published content that supported conservative positions such as Christianity, gun rights, anti-abortion and anti-immigration rhetoric. “I put in maybe 30 to 50 minutes a day and earned good money as a medical student. In India you don’t earn that much even in qualified professions. “I don’t know of an easier way to make money online,” he told Wired.
Emily Hart makes Indian a rich man
According to his own statements, this brought him several thousand dollars a month. «Each of my videos reached three, five or even ten million views. The algorithm worked great. Within a month, Emily Hart had over 10,000 Instagram followers, many of whom also subscribed to her AI-generated softcore content on an Onlyfans-like platform,” says Sam.
In a later phase, he also used X’s AI software Grok to create even more explicit images of the fictional influencer. He then uploaded these to Fanvue – a platform where users can pay for exclusive content and interact with creators. “Basically, I hardly did anything – and suddenly I had a lot of money,” he said.
Emily Hart’s Instagram profile was blocked back in February due to fraudulent activity. Following Sam’s confession, her Facebook account was also deleted.
How do you deal with the risk that profiles or content you encounter online may be fake?
Karin Leuthold (kle), born in 1968, has been working for 20 Minutes since 2005 and is currently working at the news desk.
