Olivia Rodrigo's expectations video draws AI accusations

Olivia Rodrigo's music video for "expectations (feat. Chappell Roan)" is drawing accusations that a short animated section was made with AI, after viewers said a shot appears to remove one of Chappell Roan's hands while giving Olivia an extra one.

The video premiered on October 15, 2026 on Rodrigo's YouTube channel and passed 11.6 million views by October 18, according to the watch page, which listed it at number one on the music Trending chart. Creative Bloq reported the accusations on October 17, after screenshots of the cartoon sequence circulated online.

The disputed footage sits in one small section of an otherwise live-action video. In it, cartoon versions of Rodrigo and Roan fly past on a wheel-of-fortune-style spaceship. Creative Bloq reported that one shot appears to remove one of Roan's hands, while Rodrigo appears to have inherited it. Other viewers pointed to the color palette, which shifts between shots.

What Are Smear Frames?

The distortion the screenshots capture has a long-standing explanation in hand-drawn animation. InMusic described the anomalies as consistent with smear frames, a technique animators have used for decades that stretches, duplicates or distorts a character's body for a fraction of a second to sell fast movement. Pulling one frame out of that movement leaves an image that can look wrong on its own. InMusic traced the technique to Warner Bros. directors Tex Avery and Chuck Jones and to work in Looney Tunes, Disney films and The Simpsons.

Rodrigo's side answered with production material two days after the video landed. Far Out Magazine reported that an official fan channel posted mock-up illustrations with a caption describing "BTS of the hand-drawn characters, 2D & 3D animation, and analog TV screens used to create the retro graphics of the Expectations music video."

The accusations carried extra sting because of what Rodrigo had said a week earlier. In a Hollywood Reporter cover story, she drew a hard line on AI in her work. "I would never use AI in any of my music. Absolutely no. Hard line on that," she told the magazine, as quoted by Consequence. She also said she once asked ChatGPT for Olivia Rodrigo song-title ideas and found them "all fucking awful."

What the coverage does not establish is how the animated section was produced. The video, directed by Bardia Zeinali, parodies 1980s and 1990s TV game shows as "The Big Expectations Show," with David Byrne as host Johnny Johnson and appearances from producer Dan Nigro and drag performer Aquaria. The accusation rests on viewer screenshots; the counter rests on the behind-the-scenes post and the smear-frame explanation. Neither side has published a production record of the animation itself, and Pitchfork covered the release and premise without addressing the AI question.

The video's run continues. Rodrigo is on the Unraveled Tour behind her third album, "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love."

Watch "expectations (feat. Chappell Roan)" on YouTube.