A Detroit entertainer who transforms himself into Michael Jackson on livestreams has become one of the biggest acts on TikTok, pulling in more than 70,000 viewers for a single October 23 broadcast and igniting a public dispute with another Jackson impersonator who says the whole act amounts to cheating. Glen Cannon, who performs under the name Looze Cannon, combines a face filter with a costume, wig, and vocal imitation to recreate the late King of Pop on camera, and the resulting videos have spun off into one of the internet's stranger viral moments of the year.
A Livestream That Broke Through
According to USA TODAY, Cannon's October 23 livestream drew more than 70,000 people watching in real time, and he marked the moment with a rap battle staged between Michael Jackson and himself. The outlet reports that Cannon developed an AI face filter to make him look, on video, exactly like the late King of Pop — a detail central to the controversy now following him. USA TODAY describes him as part of a growing genre of filter comedy, in which performers use digital effects to embody celebrities or build entirely new characters.
Cannon's viral rise has been powered in large part by his song Big Michael Michael, which the same report says has generated millions of spin-off videos and reposts across social platforms. Snoop Dogg, Lil Baby, Justin Bieber and former NFL star Cam Newton have all shared spin-off videos or reposts tied to the track, per USA TODAY's reporting. Cannon now has more than 1 million followers each on TikTok and Instagram, and he told the outlet he's earning thousands of dollars each time he presses the live button, largely through fan gifts.
From BIGO Live to Big Stages
Cannon's livestreaming career didn't start on TikTok. He began streaming in 2022 on the site BIGO Live, the outlet's reporting notes, building an earlier following before his Jackson-themed content broke through more broadly. Complex's reporting adds that Cannon had used the Looze Cannon name since at least 2010 and had an earlier viral run on BIGO Live performing as “Bigo Jackson,” a character description found in the outlet's Complex coverage of his climb to a million followers.
Cannon says he hasn't heard from Jackson's estate about his act, and he has said he believes Michael Jackson would love his videos, according to USA TODAY. The outlet's reporting frames his transformation as grounded in a Detroit music background, though the specifics of that upbringing beyond his Motown-area roots were not detailed with the same certainty as his streaming numbers.
A Rival Impersonator Cries Foul
Not everyone is impressed. Fabio Jackson, another Michael Jackson impersonator with more than 12 million TikTok followers, has pushed back publicly on Cannon's methods, arguing that the AI use amounts to cheating. The dispute escalated outside a Los Angeles courthouse, where Complex reports Fabio accused Looze's “moderators” of “harassment.”
The reporting diverges on key details of the conflict. USA TODAY reports that Fabio Jackson and his wife, Ana Lyrio, said they have filed a restraining order over alleged harassment by a moderator connected to Cannon. Complex, however, reported that an online search of Los Angeles Superior Court records did not show any filings by Fabio as of its article's publication. Whether a restraining order was actually filed remains disputed between the two outlets' accounts.
The AI question itself is similarly contested. While USA TODAY states that Cannon developed an AI face filter to resemble Jackson, Complex quotes Cannon directly denying that characterization: “I don't got no AI. This is all me.” The two accounts cannot be reconciled from the available reporting, and each outlet's framing is presented here as reported.
Echoes of Earlier AI Likeness Disputes
Cannon's situation lands amid a broader reckoning over AI and celebrity likeness rights. In 2024, Scarlett Johansson accused OpenAI of cloning her voice for ChatGPT, a dispute that ended with OpenAI pulling the voice in question, according to USA TODAY's reporting. That same year, George Carlin's estate settled a legal dispute with two podcasters over an unauthorized, AI-generated comedy routine imitating the late comedian, according to filings cited by Reuters. Those cases offer a glimpse of how AI likeness disputes involving public figures — living or deceased — have played out elsewhere, even as Cannon's own use of AI remains a point of disagreement between outlets covering his rise.
For now, Cannon continues to livestream as his filtered version of Jackson, racking up viewers and fan-gift income while the feud with Fabio Jackson plays out in public statements rather than confirmed court records. The Sacramento Bee was among the outlets to pick up the story as it spread beyond entertainment circles this week.
