Media outlets have come under fire for using an AI-enhanced image of slain ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 37, in reports about his killing.
The image of Pretti first drew attention when it was used during Deadline: White House with host Nicolle Wallace on MS NOW as a thumbnail on a video report Monday.
Right-wing journalist and political commentator Megyn Kelly was among those to comment on the use of the image during her podcast Tuesday.
- Media outlets used an AI-enhanced image of slain nurse Alex Pretti, sparking controversy and prompting MS NOW to remove it from their report.
- The altered image showed Pretti with more hair, a tan, whiter teeth, and a changed jaw, differing significantly from the original staff photo.
- Right-wing commentator Megyn Kelly criticized MS NOW for using the edited photo, suggesting it was altered to make Pretti appear more attractive.
Several media outlets have used the altered image of Alex Pretti
Image credits: Megyn Kelly
It has since been removed from the MS NOW report and a note has been added confirming that the image was an AI enhancement.
“MS NOW swapped out the original thumbnail image for this video,” an editor’s note on the MS NOW YouTube channel read.
“The previous thumbnail used was an AI-enhanced image of Alex Pretti.”
“Apparently, they did not think that their hero was hot enough and so they or someone from whom they got the picture clearly manipulated the photo,” Kelly claimed in her podcast.
“I don’t know who did it, but MSNBC used it,” she added.
The original image of Pretti, his staff picture at the Department of Veterans Affairs, shows him wearing nursing scrubs and smiling with the American flag in the background.
The enhanced image is much the same; however, it shows Pretti with more hair and with a tan, as well as an apparently shorter and straighter nose.
His teeth also appear whiter, and his jaw looks to have been altered.
The edited image was used by several other media outlets, including The New York Post and The Telegraph.
It is not clear who initially edited the image, but it first appeared on social media platforms on January 24 after Pretti was shot and killed by ICE agents.
One of those was the Fight for a Union Facebook page, which posted the altered image of Pretti on Saturday, as did film director Morgan J. Freeman.
Image credits: New York Post
Both accounts have been cited as a source by media outlets using the image, and there is no suggestion that those outlets knowingly used an altered photograph.
It is not known if the image was accidentally altered in an attempt to make it clearer, or if someone specifically asked for Pretti’s characteristics to be changed.
However, the use of the image has sparked conspiracy theories that the image was deliberately altered to make Pretti appear more aesthetically pleasing.
The prominent right-wing X account End Wokeness shared the altered image of Pretti with the caption, “MSNBC decided Alex Pretti is too ugly to be a martyr so they used AI to ‘fix him.’”
Similarly, Kelly said on her podcast, “What kind of a cynical mofo was like, ‘He’s not hot enough. We have to make him look hotter if we really want him to be our poster boy.’ I mean, like, that is effed up.”
Pretti was shot and killed by ICE agents on January 24
It comes as Trump told The Will Cain Show on Fox News that he feels “terrible” over Pretti’s killing, but worse about the death of Renee Good, who was also killed by ICE.
“Bottom line, it was terrible. Both of them were terrible; the other was terrible too,” Trump said on Tuesday.
“And I’m not sure about his [Pretti] parents, but I know her parents were big Trump fans, makes me feel bad anyway,” he added.
“But I guess you could say even worse, they were tremendous Trump people, Trump fans.”
Senior officials in the Trump administration had labeled Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” looking to “massacre law enforcement.”
However, Trump appeared to walk back some of that statement when speaking to reporters Tuesday as he headed to Iowa.
When asked if he thought Pretti was acting as an assassin before his death, he replied, “I don’t think so.”
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