A string of AI-generated videos depicting Biblical figures, including Jesus Christ, as 2020s-era “influencers” have gone viral online, getting millions of views since being uploaded and attracting backlash from conservative Christians, who felt the videos were irreverent at best and blasphemous at worst.
For context, in an Instagram post on June 2, 2025, filmmaker PJ Accetturo announced that his series of AI-generated videos depicting Biblical figures as modern-day influencers had gone “CRAZY VIRAL” over the previous weekend, explaining to his fans that he had used a combination of Google’s Deepmind’s Veo 3 AI video creator and ChatGPT to make the short clips.
The videos, which gained traction across social media platforms but primarily on TikTok, featured AI-generated versions of Jesus, Mary, David, Joseph, and other Biblical figures using modern slang terms and behaving like Gen-Z influencers. For example, in one clip, Samson tells the camera, “These Philistines thought they could flex on me, but I just did a big boof of some pre-workout and finna crash their party.”
Similarly, in another clip, Mary can be seen in her bedroom with the angel Gabriel behind her, who she tells, “Okay dude, you’re gonna have to explain this to my parents because if I tell them God got me pregnant, it’s not gonna go well.”
Moreover, in the clip that seemed to offend the most people on social media, Jesus is depicted on the cross, seemingly holding a selfie stick as he says to the camera, “Yo fam they don’t know that G-O-D is about to B-R-B.” Writing on his personal blog on June 3, 2025, PJ explained that he meant for this video to be controversial, saying that he knew he could “hook people’s attention with Jesus on the cross holding a selfie camera.”
In addition, Accetturo shared the specific step-by-step process that he had used to create the videos in his Instagram post, outlining how he created the script for the clips with AI as well as the footage itself. Furthermore, Accetturo, who goes by PJ Ace online, went into greater detail on his personal blog in a post dedicated to the videos, which he titled, “My God, what have I done? Jesus Christ, I went viral again. Please forgive me.”
Writing on his blog, PJ explained that he had created the videos after seeing the idea as “the perfect opportunity to put my years of trauma as a pastor’s kid to use and make a far more irreverent version that church folk will completely love or try to crucify me for.” He added that the videos both gained traction online and got him plenty of backlash in his direct messages on TikTok, sharing a screenshot of a message that said, “Why don’t you generate a bridge and jump off it you f—ing hack?”
In the same blog post, PJ defended his decision to make the controversial videos, explaining, “I grew up in church, so these were super fun to make!” He added, “I love all these bible characters and don’t think Jesus would find this particularly offensive, but some evangelicals are QUITE SENSITIVE, so this was probably a bit too far for mainstream Christian taste.”
Watch the clips:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video