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Esquire Singapore’s March issue featured the Japanese-American actor who is best known for his role as Roronoa Zoro in Netflix\u2019s adaptation of One Piece. The series’ second season was released on Mar 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The feature was published online on Mar 6 and appeared in print, but gained wider attention weeks later after circulating on fan forums and social media platforms, including Bluesky, Reddit and Instagram.<\/p>\n
The use of AI was disclosed in the article, with Esquire Singapore explaining that they had pulled Mackenyu’s “verbatim from previous interviews and fed them through an AI programme to formulate new responses\u201d.<\/p>\n
The resulting piece was presented in a question-and-answer format, covering topics such as the actor’s personal boundaries, mental health and family values. The article also disclosed that it was \u201cproduced with Claude, Copilot, and edited by humans\u201d.<\/p>\n
Online reaction was largely negative. Many users responded in shock, describing the piece as \u201cpretentious\u201d, \u201cdubious\u201d and \u201can insult to journalism\u201d.<\/p>\n
A few compared the interview to the 1966 Esquire article by Gay Talese, Frank Sinatra Has a Cold, a profile which was famously written without direct access to the singer. However, other users argued that the Mackenyu piece differed in its reliance on AI, calling it \u201clazy journalism\u201d and lacking creativity.<\/p>\n
Advertising news platform Marketing Interactive reported that the backlash comes amid declining public trust in media. Citing data from media analytics software Carma, it said sentiment around the article was \u201coverwhelmingly critical\u201d, with 83.3 per cent negative, 14.5 per cent neutral and 2.2 per cent positive responses.<\/p>\n
Marketing Interactive added that the controversy highlighted broader concerns about \u201cconsent and representation, trust and erosion of credibility, and labour and craft\u201d, noting that keywords such as \u201cviolate\u201d and \u201cmorals\u201d appeared frequently in online discussions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n