Laurie Segall is launching “Searching for Mr. Deepfakes,” a 13-part TikTok investigation into a site that creates explicit sexual images of women without consent—supported by Paris Hilton. Segall frames the series as a “beta test” for a new playbook in true-cr
When Laurie Segall sits down to talk about her new true-crime project, she sounds less interested in following old formulas—and more focused on building something that can catch up to harm as it happens.
She is launching “Searching for Mr. Deepfakes. ” a 13-part quest to find the owner of a site that creates explicit sexual images of women without their consent. Segall. a journalist who first gained traction at CNN as a technology reporter before leaving to launch her own creator endeavor. is approaching the investigation like a redesign of the genre itself. She isn’t trying to make it fit neatly into the hour-long conventions of broadcast TV or documentary structures.
“This is the sort of probe that would make for a riveting hour of NBC’s “Dateline” or ABC’s “20/20. ” or. in more recent times. a streaming documentary on HBO or Netflix. ” the setup calls to mind. Segall, though, believes the story should move the way audiences move now. She expects many of the TikTok episodes of “Searching for Mr. Deepfakes” to last just two to four minutes, breaking the pace that traditional true crime often depends on.
“I love this idea of creating a new playbook for unscripted content,” Segall says during a recent interview. “This is a beta test for it.”
The choice isn’t only about format—it’s about access. Segall says the goal is to make her story. built around probing digital realms for tips about the alleged perpetrator. available to anyone who wants to see it. especially younger women who are more likely to grapple with this problem. “We really want people who need this the most to see it,” she says.
Paris Hilton is among the project’s most visible allies. Hilton, who suffered from just this sort of violation when she wasn’t even 20 years old, is heavily involved. The series is produced by Segall’s Mostly Human, in partnership with BFD and Hilton’s 11:11 Media. Hilton appears in the series and also does an interview with Segall about the effects of deepfakes. while promoting the project through her own digital and social channels.
“It was just one of the most painful and traumatizing, humiliating, degrading experiences of my life,” Hilton says during an interview with Segall in one of the series’ episodes.
For Segall, the point of telling the story fast is also the point of telling it responsibly. She wants a broad audience to interact with the new story. even though she knows how easily people can miss what’s happening online when platforms and tools move ahead faster than the systems built to respond. She describes the momentum as dangerous—“I can see a train wreck coming. ” she notes. “when things move so quickly they slip past old guardrails and people get hurt.”.
The approach arrives as creator culture has become something mainstream organizations increasingly lean on. Segall’s effort echoes a wider shift: NBC News recently unveiled a partnership with technology journalist Joanna Stern. and Fox News Channel has licensed the popular conservative podcast “Ruthless. ” adding to the ranks of opinion contributors.
Alongside the TikTok series, Segall is building out the story in another medium. Her podcast, Mostly Human, recently launched and will include a four-part series of “Searching for Mr. Deepfakes.” That version will debut June 4 and be released on Thursdays for four weeks.
“I saw around the corner,” Segall says. “Content doesn’t have to sit in one place.”
The through-line, in her telling, is that this case demands more than spectacle. It demands a new way of reaching the people most at risk—one shaped by the platforms where the harm and the audience now overlap.
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