Australian Muslim influencer Lily Jay has issued her first public statement since an ABC News Verify investigation insinuated she was using Artificial Intelligence to deceive people about her charity and aid work.
The statement doesn’t come directly from Lily Jay herself, but rather from the company, “The Lily Jay Foundation,” published on her social media platforms.
ABC originally uncovered questionable activity behind her charitable organisation, “The Lily Jay Foundation”, claiming she had mixed real footage with manipulated AI content, raising serious questions over the authenticity of her charity work.
Statement
The statement begins by explaining the structure of the “charity”, which is actually not a registered charity but a corporate organisation.
“As clearly stated throughout our website, the Lily J Foundation is not currently a registered charity and operates under a corporate structure. We have been transparent about this from the outset while focusing on delivering meaningful humanitarian support to communities in need,” the statement, published on social media platform X, read.
“In response to the support and feedback we have received, we are actively exploring the transition to a registered charitable structure. We believe this represents an important step in the continued growth, governance, and transparency of our organisation.”
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The statement then goes on to answer the most serious allegations and questions that arose in the original ABC report, namely the use of fabricated AI imagery.
Questions over AI
“During the creation of a very limited number of social media marketing materials, members of our marketing team incorporated a small number of AI-generated introductory clips featuring Lily Jay. These brief introductory sequences, typically lasting only a few seconds, were used solely as opening hooks before transitioning to genuine footage of our humanitarian work.”
“They represented only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of clips shared across our platforms and were never used to depict, replace, or fabricate humanitarian activities or aid delivered on the ground.”
The content in question has attracted millions of views and helped position Jay as a high-profile Muslim influencer with a strong humanitarian image.
Her following has been built on the back of documenting her conversion to Islam, as well as posting emotional charity videos from places such as Gaza, Uganda, Nepal and Sudan.
The statement also claims it will ensure more transparency going forward with its charitable endeavours.
“To provide additional transparency, we are actively publishing raw, unedited footage from our humanitarian projects across our official Foundation platforms. We will also be conducting scheduled live streams from several of the project locations that have recently been the subject of public speculation when the operation is safe and appropriate.”
The last section of the statement addresses Jay’s involvement, not coming from her directly but from the company:
“At this point in time, Lily Jay continues to serve as a global ambassador for the mission. While she is not the director of the corporate entities or shareholders, she is engaged to use her platform to raise awareness, connect supporters with initiatives, and amplify the voices of vulnerable communities.”
“Her involvement is driven by her shared commitment to deliver meaningful assistance to those in need,” the statement continued.
Original controversy
In the ABC News Verify investigation, examples were presented of Jay in a video announcing the opening of an orphanage in Africa.
In the clip, a blonde woman speaking with an Australian accent appears on screen celebrating the project. She is shown standing with smiling children and Lily Jay Foundation branding in the background. ABC says the woman was not the real Lily Jay.
The investigation concluded that the woman was generated using Artificial Intelligence in the image of Lily Jay. Some children in the videos were also found to be AI-generated.
Similar doubts and questions were raised over the opening of a bakery in Gaza with a large banner reading “Bakery – #TeamGaza – Lily Jay Foundation.”
The Lily Jay Foundation posted content saying it had opened the bakery to deliver aid to inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, but ABC said it could not geolocate the bakery or independently verify that it exists.
Humanitarian sources working in Gaza also told ABC they had not heard of the Lily Jay Foundation or the bakery it claims to operate.
The statement has failed to address the countless specific examples raised in the ABC investigation, instead saying they were small introductory clips in a select portion of videos used as “hooks” to grab attention.
The allegations raise questions over the sincerity of the charity work, as well as transparency, accountability and trust surrounding the foundation.
However, the allegations do not automatically mean every project shown by the foundation is fake.
At this moment in time, the statement published by Lily Jay on behalf of the Lily Jay Foundation is the only response.
Lily Jay has not offered any additional personal thoughts or comments of her own.
5Pillars reached out to Lily Jay for comment but had received no response at the time of reporting.
