Who is ZvBear? Memes erupt on Twitter amid viral Taylor Swift AI pictures scandal

On Wednesday, January 24, 2024, offensive images of music sensation Taylor Swift surfaced online. The pictures generated by artificial intelligence were the doing of a social media user with the X (formerly Twitter) handle @ZvBear. As per Marca, his real name is Zubear Abdi.

Trigger warning: This article deals with NSFW content. Readers' discretion is advised.

The images that garnered severe traction online and enraged the fans of Taylor Swift were primarily p*rnographic in nature. For instance, one of them showed the Lover songstress engaging in s*xual acts with Kansas City Chiefs fans during a match inside a stadium. For those unaware, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce is a tight end for the NFL club.

In the wake of the viral Taylor Swift AI images taking over the internet, Swifties dug out the identity of the person behind the scandalous photos as ZvBear, forcing him to turn all his social media accounts private. Netizens are now having hilarious reactions to ZvBear taking a step back to save himself from the fans of the music idol.

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All you need to know about ZvBear, the man behind Taylor Swift’s controversial AI images

According to Marca, ZvBear is short for Zubear Abdi. He is a 27-year-old Somalian citizen living in Ontario, Canada. ThisWasTV identified him as an active social media influencer who is known for posting explicit content, primarily on platforms like 4chan, Reddit, and X.

Allegedly an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Scarborough, before turning his X account private, ZvBear had over 83,000 followers. However, ever since he admitted to creating the NSFW images of the You Belong With Me singer, he has reportedly lost thousands of followers.

Notably, 4chan and Celeb Jihad, websites dedicated to creating deepfake p*rnographic pictures primarily of celebrities, were the ones who leaked that ZvBear made the offensive content on their platforms, as per ThisWasTV.

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“ZvBear got taken down by the same demographic he was twerking for”: A memefest erupts targeting ZvBear in the wake of Taylor Swift AI images

As soon as the internet sleuths and Swifties identified ZvBear as the person behind Taylor Swift’s explicit AI pictures, he began facing severe backlash. As a result, ZvBear went on record to admit his actions.

He said, “My Taylor post went viral and now everyone is posting it,” as per Newsweek. He even joked that Netflix may make a documentary on AI images starring him as the “villain,” and new laws may get passed because of his actions. Later, facing severe heat from the Cruel Summer hitmaker’s fans, he declared that he was going private for a while. Here’s what he wrote.

“I gotta go private till this tsunami passes. The only time in history I privated my account was cause of Jen*na Ortega fans for 24 hours. Now I’m dealing with Swities. A whole different animal. This is a Tactical Retreat, every great army has done this.”

Following this, his account became private, and his posts were protected, although ThisWasTV reported it to be still active. Meanwhile, Marca's article stated that ZvBear’s account has been mass-reported.

In the wake of ZvBear’s defensive move, memes have erupted online, especially on X, with Swifties and other users trolling the man.

Apart from the mass outrage and now mass trolling, ZvBear may also be facing legal consequences from Taylor Swift. As per Daily Mail, the Time Magazine Person of the Year 2023 allegedly plans to take legal action against not only ZvBear but also the websites involved, aka, 4chan and Celeb Jihad, for reportedly publicizing her offensive AI images.

However, so far, the multiple-time Grammy winner or her team has not confirmed the same. Meanwhile, Swifties are trying to entirely wipe out the deepfakes from the internet. The phrase “Protect Taylor Swift” has also been trending online, as per Page Six.