Suno Pulls Mary J. Blige AI Ad After Unauthorized Deal 

In late August 2026, an 85-second advertisement for Suno featuring Mary J. Blige started to spread and was withdrawn on September 3 when the company stated that the agreement had never been authorized. The R&B singer from Yonkers, known as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, established her reputation with the show ‘What’s the 411’ and continued to gain popularity through the albums No More Drama, The Breakthrough and Growing Pains. Songs like ‘Family Affair’ and ‘Be Without You’ made her voice one of the most widely imitated in today’s R&B, which is the reason a clip showing her as part of an AI process was seen as an endorsement even before it was clear what the facts were. She subsequently suffered a week of online abuse over a campaign for which her team has not confirmed.

​Viewers watched what looked like a behind-the-scenes studio session: a producer loaded Suno with a track in Blige’s signature midtempo style, reportedly called ‘Pretty Flowers’. Blige asked for strings, then a beat, and the software delivered the arrangement in seconds. Circulating clips captured her calling the result pretty dope and expressing interest in experimenting further; another edit showed her saying the tool was useful because she liked having help. The way the footage was cut made it unclear what she was actually responding to. The controversy was not just about taste. Reports indicated she never approved the ad. Meanwhile, Suno is already embroiled in copyright battles with labels and artists, and rumors of a multimillion-dollar deal remain unconfirmed by both the company and Blige.

​Suno revealed: “We entered into a business deal with someone who presented themselves as Ms. Blige’s official representative. As soon as we learned this was not the case, and that Ms. Blige was uncomfortable, we terminated the advertising campaign.”

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