Hockey Star Brady Tkachuk Denies Fake AI Video From White House TikTok

Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk is speaking out against an artificial intelligence-generated video posted by the White House that falsely showed him making derogatory comments about Canada. The Olympic gold medalist says the viral TikTok video, which garnered over 11 million views, completely misrepresents him and contains words he would never say.

Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk addressed reporters Thursday to clarify his position regarding an artificially created video that surfaced on the White House’s official TikTok page, which falsely depicted him making disparaging remarks about the Canadian hockey squad.

The 26-year-old hockey star, who contributed to Team USA’s historic first men’s hockey gold medal victory since 1980 by defeating Canada 2-1 this past Sunday during the Milan Cortina Olympics, spoke about the digitally manipulated clip that was released on the same day as the championship game. The fabricated footage showed what appeared to be Tkachuk at a previous 4 Nations Face-Off media event, where he supposedly stated, “They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating f—s a lesson.”

Speaking to media members in Ottawa before the Senators’ return to action following the Olympic hiatus against the Detroit Red Wings, Tkachuk firmly denied the authenticity of the content. “Well, it’s clearly fake, because it’s not my voice, not my lips moving,” Tkachuk explained to reporters. “I’m not in control of any of those accounts. I know that those words would never come out of my mouth. So, I can’t do anything about it.”

The manipulated content, which accumulated more than 11 million views on the social media platform, included a disclaimer indicating artificial intelligence was used in its creation. The clip featured the classic rock song “Free Bird” playing over Tkachuk’s fabricated statement before cutting to footage from the American team’s championship victory.

Tkachuk emphasized his disapproval of the misrepresentation, stating, “It’s not my voice. It’s not what I was saying. I would never say that. That’s not who I am, so I guess I don’t like that video because that would never come out of my mouth and (I) never had that thought.”

The hockey player also addressed another misconception, clarifying that he was not the individual who yelled “Close the northern border” during Team USA’s celebratory phone conversation with President Donald Trump following their Olympic triumph.

“I’ve been seeing stuff that people think it’s me. But if you watch the video, it’s not my voice,” Tkachuk stated. “I don’t know how that took a storm on its own when I give everything I have here. It’s crazy when things go on social media, how fast they go. I would never say anything like that.”

Following their Olympic success, the men’s hockey team made an appearance at the White House on Tuesday during Trump’s State of the Union address. The president sparked debate during the post-victory phone call when he mentioned he would probably face impeachment if he failed to extend an invitation to the gold medal-winning women’s team as well.

In his Olympic debut, Tkachuk recorded three goals and two assists across six games during the tournament. This season with the Senators, he has accumulated 37 points through 37 games, including 14 goals and 23 assists.