Lainey Wilson is grateful to be in a place where she can speak her heart.
At the 2024 People’s Choice Red Carpet, Wilson told Fox News Digital, “It is a blessing that I get to use my platform to speak about things that I truly believe in. It’s cool that I’m in that place.”
She continued, “All I’ve ever wanted to do was sing and write country music, and the opportunities that it has brought me, it blows my mind.”
Last month, Wilson used her position to testify in front of Congress about her experience as a “victim of AI.”
“It’s also mind-boggling that people do listen to what you have to say, but I think it’s really important when you believe in something with your whole heart, I think you gotta talk about it too,” the “Yellowstone” star told Fox News Digital.
During her testimony, Wilson said, “I use my music and my voice to tell stories, to connect to my fans and to help them to connect to each other. My art is uniquely and literally me, my name, my likeness, my voice. I do not have to tell you how much of a gut punch it is to have your name, your likeness or your voice ripped from you and used in ways that you could never imagine or would never allow. It is wrong, plain and simple.”
Not only has her voice allegedly been mimicked by AI, but, according to Wilson, her likeness has been used to promote weight-loss gummies, something she would never use her platform for.
“I’ve got a lot of little kids watching me, a lot of little girls and a lot of little boys. And I want to encourage them to feel comfortable in their own skin and love themselves. And I would never in a million years ever do anything like that,” she told the committee.
She also emphasized it’s not just actors, musicians or other celebrities in need of protection from the technology.
“It’s not just artists who need protection, and the fans need it too. It’s needed for high school girls who have experienced life-altering deepfake porn using their faces. For elderly citizens convinced to hand over their life savings by a vocal clone of their grandchild in trouble, AI increasingly affects every single one of us, and I’m so grateful that you are considering taking action to ensure that these tools are used in a responsible way.”
Following her testimony and win for best country album at the Grammys, Wilson was on hand at the People’s Choice Awards Sunday night to perform a medley of her hits, as well as her new single “Country’s Cool Again.”
“I’m so excited, my band is here, they’re looking snazzy. We’re doing something that we’ve never done before, we’re kind of mixing it up. We’re doing a little bit of old, little bit of new, and I’m excited,” she said ahead of her performance.
She added, “I’m excited to be in the same building as a lot of these folks, I heard Jennifer Aniston was going to be here, so it’s wild.”