Gubernatorial candidate U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-TN, hit back against an attack ad that her team says is defamatory.¶
Blackburn sent a cease-and-desist letter to the American Exceptionalism Institute (AEI), the group behind an ad alleging, without evidence, that she took money from pharmaceutical companies in exchange for supporting legislation that benefited them.¶
The U.S. Senator is demanding that AEI stop running the ad and pull it from television, radio, social media, and all other online platforms, and disclose whether AI was used to create it as required under Tennessee state law.¶
AEI was also asked to confirm all of these issues in writing within 48 hours.¶
The Ad
AEI has already run attack ads against both Blackburn and her opponent, John Rose.¶
This ad, which appears to utilize AI-generated images of Blackburn but does not disclaim it, alleges the U.S. Senator took monetary bribes from pharmaceutical companies to pass “bad legislation” and claims she contributed to Tennessee’s “opioid crisis.”¶
The commercial depicts a group of people in suits playing pickleball and high-fiving before one of them is shown in an office building, opening a briefcase filled with money.¶
“Our pain-killing pills wouldn’t sell, so we paid Senator Marsha Blackburn to pass our bill,” a voice sings in the advertisement. Later, the ad calls her “The queen pharma mama.”¶
Blackburn’s Team’s Response
In its letter to AEI, Blackburn’s camp categorically denies everything the group asserted in its ad and called it defamatory.¶
“Your organization is currently sponsoring and disseminating an advertisement that targets Senator Marsha Blackburn with knowingly false and defamatory accusations of bribery and criminal corruption,” part of the letter reads. “The advertisement is not merely misleading; it is a calculated attempt to deceive viewers by accusing Senator Blackburn of quid pro quo corruption without a shred of factual support.”¶
Blackburn’s team is also demanding documents related to the attack ad, including scripts, storyboards, research materials, internal emails, advertising plans, any AI prompts and outputs used, and distribution records.¶
The letter also includes a notice of falsity and actual malice, saying, “Your organization’s decision to sponsor and disseminate accusations of bribery against a sitting United States Senator and candidate for Governor of Tennessee—without any factual basis whatsoever—demonstrates, at a minimum, reckless disregard for the truth.”¶
Should AEI not respond, Blackburn’s team indicated that it may file a defamation lawsuit.¶
What the Law Says About Defamation
Generally, defamation means the language used would need to be false, understood by the recipient of the language to be defamatory, communicated to at least one other person, and cause some damages, usually to the subject's reputation.
In Tennessee, to succeed in a defamation action, the injured party must generally show actual harm to their reputation, not merely a presumption of harm. When the subject of the defamation is a public official or public figure, the injured party generally must also prove by a high standard of evidence that the language was communicated to others with malice.¶
Tennessee Law on AI Deepfakes
In April 2026, Governor Bill Lee signed legislation requiring disclosure of AI-generated images or content used in political campaign advertisements.¶
Those in violation of the disclosure law may be subject to civil liability.¶
As of the time of publishing, Comcast and Viamedia have taken the advertisement down. AEI was not immediately available for comment on this story.¶
