AI-Generated Spoofs of RuPaul’s Drag Race Are Flooding Instagram and TikTok

Now in its 16th season, RuPaul’s Drag Race has birthed more than a few iconic lip-sync battles, but precious few have featured Muppets. None, even. AI Drag Race changed that. In the Instagram account’s recent season finale, Miss Piggy, wearing an AI-generated drag look, faced off against lover-turned-rival Kermisha Ihman, who had a thick, 40-inch-long ponytail atop her green felt head.

Tackling Lady Gaga’s “Telephone,” the two whirled and jumped, kicking and bucking in front of head judge Betty Boop. Kermisha worked her faux-nailed webbed feet, sickening in her bejeweled purple corset, but ultimately she fell to Piggy, whose fringe flew as she went for a well-timed jump split at the song’s climax. As the commenters watching the video noted, “Kermisha fought hard and devoured,” but “Miss Piggy ate.”

AI Drag Race is just one of a burgeoning number of AI-generated accounts popping up on Instagram and TikTok, with creators not only pitting their favorite fictional characters against each other in seasons meant to mimic the original show, but also creating and generating their own queens.

There’s AI Horror Drag Race, which features characters like Pennywise and Billy the Puppet facing off against Ghostface from Scream. There’s also Big Girl’s Drag Race, which is exclusively for curvy characters. (Past winners include Ursula from The Little Mermaid and Fat Albert.) All the participants in Fantasy Drag Race’s seasons look vaguely like dolls, while Slay Drag Race AI, which recently eliminated Scooby-Doo sidekick Shaggy and Marceline from Adventure Time, is hosted by a surprisingly accurate-looking Dora the Explorer.

Some accounts put their participants through signature Drag Race challenges, like Snatch Game and commercial shoots; others create not just the contestants’ runway looks but also their street-clothed everyday looks for workroom shots or interview stills.

They’re also operating in something of a copyright gray area. Drag Race, Miss Piggy, and Pennywise all have stakeholders. Creators behind the various accounts claim that what they’re doing is a parody, or falls under the fair use doctrine of the Copyright Act, which stipulates that “transformative” works are