Zara Larsson Begs Editors to Stop Changing Her Wikipedia Photo

Zara Larsson asked editors in a short video on Wednesday (ET) to stop replacing the image on her Wikipedia page, saying she prefers a specific portrait and pledging to keep restoring it. The appeal coincided with a surge of edits that left the article temporarily semi-protected and generated dozens of reversions and comments in the page's update history.

Zara Larsson’s video plea

In the posted clip, the singer-songwriter criticized the image then displayed on the page and made clear she wants a different portrait — one showing her in a pink outfit with face paint and no microphone. She and her team browsed the gallery of photos uploaded to the article, dismissing images they considered unflattering and identifying a single file they prefer. The preferred file is named "Zara Larsson Midnight Sun European Tour (cropped). jpg. " She made an emphatic promise to continue reverting the page to that portrait if others replaced it.

Edit surge and temporary protection

The article's revision history registered heavy activity after the video was posted, with 70 revisions recorded in the past day. At one point the preferred portrait appeared on the public page; a later refresh showed no portrait at all. The article now carries a lock indicating it is "semi-protected" from edits until next week, a status applied after repeated image updates and reversions.

Community responses and edit messages

Change notes and on-wiki messages tied to the rapid revisions characterized many of the updates as vandalism and debated whether the subject's request had triggered the flood of edits. One comment visible in the history said the recent wave of image changes was caused by the article subject posting a video requesting a particular image be used and suggested reversion if the change was controversial. Other edit messages included simple pleas to let the subject choose her photo. The edit log provides a public record of those exchanges and the volume of activity around the page.

Conflict-of-interest and likely next steps

Public guidance around article editing discourages subjects from directly editing their own pages because of the potential for conflict of interest; the video and the ensuing activity appear to have triggered that exact dynamic. If the elevated edit rate continues, the page may remain semi-protected or receive further temporary protections. Conversely, if activity subsides, normal editing could resume after the current protection period ends. The immediate outcome will hinge on whether the community accepts a stable image choice or whether edits and reversions continue at the same pace.

Key takeaways:

• Zara Larsson publicly pushed for a preferred portrait in a short video and pledged to keep restoring it.
• The article saw roughly 70 revisions in a single day and is currently semi-protected until next week.