Generative AI music company Suno has pulled an advertising campaign that featured Mary J. Blige after saying the singer never authorized the spot. In statements to Billboard and other outlets on September 3, 2026, Suno said it had struck a deal with someone who presented themselves as Blige’s official representative.
“As soon as we learned this was not the case, and that Ms. Blige was uncomfortable, we terminated the advertising campaign,” a Suno spokesperson said. Blige’s representatives declined further comment.
The video, which circulated at the end of August, showed Blige in a studio as a producer demoed Suno’s tools and built a track in an R&B vein. Clips of her reacting positively fueled backlash from fans who read the footage as an endorsement. Suno’s account now separates the filmed session from approval of the finished ad.
The misfire lands while Suno faces multiple artist and rights lawsuits, including a proposed class action over name and likeness prompts and separate copyright claims over training data. Consent is the through-line: who can speak for an artist, and what that permission actually covers when AI tools are in the room.
Image: thematic stock photo (Unsplash/Pexels), royalty-free. Story facts verified from Billboard and Consequence coverage of Suno’s Sept. 3 statements.