Mackenyu Maeda, known as simply as Mackenyu, won over the hearts of global fans in his portrayal of Roronoa Zoro in Netflix’s live-action ONE PIECE series. However, his name has been at the top of social media platforms for all the wrong reasons. An “interview” from March 6, 2026 by Esquire Singapore resurfaced at the end of March, which ignited discussion over the use of generative AI in place of a real interview by the actor.
His fans began to react negatively to the published piece, criticizing the use of AI assistants, such as Claude and Gemini, in place of Mackenyu. Understandably, they were upset—even though their anger came nearly three weeks after publication. Although other outlets have also criticized the magazine for printing and publishing the interview, I believe there’s a missing topic in the discussion: Do fans care that outlets are writing AI fan fiction of their favorite person? Or is it that it doesn’t align with their image of that person?
Of course, I’m not defending the use of AI programs to hallucinate answers based on previous interviews—it’s ethically and morally wrong especially if the other party never consented. There could have been other creative ideas in lieu of an interview, but ultimately it would leave the magazine devoid of exclusive content. At the same time, Esquire Singapore fully disclosed that the interview was AI generated and never tried to pass it off as a legitimate interview.
We were stoked to have some face time with the Japanese-American actor, but his schedule prevented it. So, we opted for e-mail correspondence. A list of queries was sent his way, and we waited. The silence continued until it was quickly replaced by a ticking clock as deadlines loomed.
Are these the words we expect from Mackenyu? Or are they just replies from an echo chamber of celebrity-hood that we want to believe is from him?
There are people on the other side of the equation, where there are schedules and deadlines that will go forward whether an actual interview happens or not. The team responsible for printing an exclusive magazine spread are faced with the reality that it doesn’t have an interview for its upcoming photospread. So what does a magazine do? In the end, Esquire SG decided to turn to feeding Claude and Copilot previous Mackenyu interviews in order to create new “insights,” attempting to answer their self-imposed questions: “Are these the words we expect from Mackenyu? Or are they just replies from an echo chamber of celebrity-hood that we want to believe is from him?”
Last year, University of Maryland computer scientists found “more than 9% of all news in U.S. newspapers contains at least some text created by artificial intelligence (AI).” The changing landscape of journalism has focused primarily on the writers and the publishers, but what happens when the subject becomes replaceable and re-imagined like in fan fiction? After all, there’s a history of toxic fandoms harassing real people over fictional characters or even just their image of a fictional character. Popular chatbot app, character.ai, had over 20 million global monthly active users in 2025. There, fans can engage with their favorite fictional character or a real life celebrity.
Esquire SG disclosed their use of AI and created an imaginary interview in place of a real one. As a fan, it’s reprehensible when an outlet with journalistic integrity starts conjuring up fantasies. But for that publication, it’s an evolutionary step for conducting business. I can’t say that bodes well for its reputation with fans or professionals, but it was a risk their team was willing to take.
