Paris Hilton’s latest TikTok project is not a beauty launch, travel clip, or nostalgia play. It is an investigation into one of the internet’s most disturbing forms of sexual exploitation.
The media personality and advocate has partnered with technology journalist Laurie Segall for Searching for Mr. Deepfakes, a 14-part docuseries about Segall’s years-long hunt for the person behind Mr. Deepfakes, a site that hosted nonconsensual AI-generated sexual images. People reported that the series is streaming exclusively on Hilton’s TikTok account in collaboration with Segall’s Mostly Human Media.
Hilton’s involvement gives the project a personal link. She has spoken for years about online sexual exploitation after a private video of her was distributed when she was 19, and she says deepfake abuse can still cause real harm even when the images are fabricated.
Laurie Segall Spent Three Years Tracking the Site’s Operator
Segall first came across Mr. Deepfakes in 2022 and began investigating the anonymous figure behind it.
People reported that the site allowed users to upload and view AI-generated deepfake sexual content involving celebrities and everyday people. According to Segall, the platform hosted hundreds of thousands of explicit digitally altered images and drew 17 million monthly visitors at its peak.
Segall, who previously worked at CNN and 60 Minutes, assembled a team that included journalists, cybersecurity experts, and other specialists. The investigation eventually led her to confront the site’s owner face-to-face in Markham, Ontario.
The site shut down in May 2025 after a service provider withdrew support and halted its operations, according to People. Segall said the investigation helped contribute to that outcome, though the owner has not faced legal consequences or publicly answered the allegations.
Hilton Joined Because the Story Was Personal
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Hilton’s role is not only about giving the project a bigger platform.
People reported that Hilton appears in the series and discusses being a victim of deepfake abuse. She told the outlet that people often assume fake images cannot cause real harm, but the impact is real when strangers create and share content designed to humiliate or exploit someone.
Hilton also said there are more than 100,000 deepfake images of her online. She told People that she is fortunate to have a team helping report and remove the images, but that the process is still time-consuming because each platform has to be handled separately.
That history is why Segall said she wanted to work with Hilton. Segall told People she saw Hilton advocating on Capitol Hill and realized Hilton understood the issue from lived experience, not only from a media or policy perspective.
The Series Uses TikTok as the Main Distribution Platform
Searching for Mr. Deepfakes is not being rolled out like a traditional documentary.
Adweek reported that Hilton’s 11:11 Media and Mostly Human are distributing the investigative series as social-native installments on TikTok. The outlet described the release as a test of whether serious investigative work can live on a short-form platform rather than relying only on streamers, legacy publishers, or feature-length documentaries.
That choice fits the subject. The abuse being investigated was built and spread online, and the series is reaching audiences on a platform where conversations about AI, image misuse, celebrity exploitation, and digital consent already move quickly.
People reported that the campaign reached 26 million video views across Hilton and Mostly Human Media’s social channels within a week of release.
The Project Arrives as Deepfake Laws Are Changing
The docuseries lands as lawmakers are trying to catch up with AI-generated sexual exploitation.
People reported that Hilton traveled to Capitol Hill in January to support the DEFIANCE Act, a bipartisan bill that would allow victims of deepfake exploitation to take legal action against people who create and distribute such content. She appeared alongside Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Laurel Lee, who co-sponsored the bill.
Hilton also pointed to the Take It Down Act, which People described as now law. The law requires covered platforms to remove qualifying nonconsensual intimate images and deepfakes after notice, and it creates consequences for distribution.
Segall said the conversation is now moving beyond individual uploaders to the larger ecosystem that allows abuse to spread, including platforms and payment providers.
The Investigation Is Continuing Beyond TikTok
The full 14-part docuseries is available on Hilton’s TikTok account, but the project is also expanding into audio.
People reported that additional podcast content tied to the investigation and its characters will roll out on Segall’s Mostly Human with Laurie Segall podcast every Thursday through June 25.
That gives the investigation two tracks: short-form TikTok episodes for a broad social audience, and longer audio installments for the reporting behind the series.
The project ends with one unresolved fact still hanging over the story. Mr. Deepfakes shut down in May 2025, but Segall says the man she confronted in Ontario has not publicly answered the allegations or faced legal consequences.