Overview
- Los Angeles Magazine published an AI-created cover for its Special Election issue Thursday that depicts candidates Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt and was captioned “The cover is fake. The crisis is real.”
- The magazine has defended the image as a deliberate, symbolic editorial choice intended to comment on celebrity, spectacle and civic frustration in Los Angeles.
- Users and commentators reacted quickly online, saying the AI likenesses did not resemble the candidates and arguing a human photographer or artist should have been used.
- Page Six reported that co-owner Mark Geragos created the collage and said the move shocked some staffers, though those claims rely on unnamed sources and have not been independently confirmed.
- The cover landed as the mayoral contest has also featured AI-driven campaign content, and critics warn the episode could deepen trust issues at the magazine, exacerbate internal newsroom tensions, and sharpen public debate over AI in political media.