Actor and television host Mario Lopez is facing backlash for an AI-generated video of himself and his niece, Kalia Wong, that he recently uploaded on X with the caption:“I can’t take my niece anywhere!”The 15-second clip showed the uncle-niece duo attending a Dodgers’ game and Lopez saying, “I can’t take her anywhere” as Wong took bites of two hot dogs, holding each in her hand, and spilling the mustard on herself.“Oh my god, look at you,” Mario, 52, was heard reacting to the spillage.Meanwhile, Kalia was shown delighted by the food and saying, “It’s so good!” As the Saved by the Bell alum added, “You’re a mess! The mustard!” his niece was seen using her hands to smear more of the mustard all over her face.Kalia Wong, 19, is a model signed to Clear Talent Group, according to her Instagram.The video was made with Grok Imagine and amassed 2.3 million views. It also sparked controversy, with many calling out Mario Lopez. For instance, X user @staceyannsuarez commented under Yashar Ali’s repost:“Wow, this is gross and disappointing.”Ali, who is a HuffPost and NY Mag correspondent, also wrote in his caption:“Uhhhh, what a creepy video for Mario Lopez to create using AI and then post… Especially since the subject is his niece!”Many people joined the conversation and shared similar reactions:“That’s some weird sh*t to do with AI…” a user wrote.“They should arrest you for this,” another person commented underneath Lopez’s post.“Imagine the prompt this mf had to type to get this video of his OWN NIECE,” one individual added.Others continued to weigh in.“Unfortunately, it’s too late to delete. But you still should anyway,” a netizen wrote.“Posting AI goon content of your niece is disgusting,” a commenter chimed in.“As a responsible adult celebrity in 2026, how do you find it ok to post this? Even worse is that it is your niece. Y’all are detached from actual reality,” another one commented.More about Mario Lopez’s nieceKalia Wong was crowned Miss River Oaks Outstanding Teen in 2021. Back then, she was 14 and was involved with Dance Zone. According to her profile on The Buzz Magazine, Mario Lopez’s niece has been dancing since the age of five and aspires to be a Broadway performer and tour with A-list recording artists.Elsewhere, she has also been auditioning for television shows and commercials ever since she was a teenager.Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Kalia Wong attended Episcopal High School, where she was part of the dance program, competition team, and freshman cheer club.Five years ago, when Kalia was a contestant on the Miss River Oaks Outstanding Teen pageant, her uncle took to Instagram and shared her profile:“Take a look at my niece (@itskaliawong); she’s up for Miss Texas Outstanding Teen *PEOPLE’S CHOICE*. The voting is live! Votes are only $1 and the money goes to fund scholarships. Link to vote is in her bio. Go show some love & support!”For six months, Kalia Wong was enrolled at the Momentum Dance Program in Los Angeles. In April 2026, she described it:“6 months in LA. 6 months at @momentumdanceprogram. This experience has truly been a dream. I’ll forever be grateful for every moment, every memory, and all of the beautiful people I met along the way. To my Momentum family, I will always love and appreciate you. A chapter I’ll carry with me forever. Onto the next.”Like with most of her Instagram posts, Mario Lopez commented with fire emojis underneath this post.A July 2020 post showed the X-Factor host celebrating Kalia’s birthday:“Happy Birthday to my beautiful niece Kalia! Nino loves you!! #BirthdayGirl #YaYa.”Wong replied, “Yaya loves her Nino and Nina [red heart emoji].” View this post on Instagram Instagram PostEight hours ago, Mario Lopez shared a live clip from the Dodgers’ game where Kalia Wong was seated next to him eating ice cream. He introduced her as his niece and asked her if she was “ready” and would bring “good luck” to the team. Wong responded by saying she was “excited” and “absolutely” respectively.“Sunshine, baseball, family… doesn’t get much better than that. Let’s keep this postseason momentum rolling…” the IG post was captioned.This is not the first time Mario Lopez has triggered controversy. In March 2025, he faced heat for hugging Andrew Tate at a UFC match. Andrew and his brother Tristan are currently in U.S. federal detention awaiting extradition to the UK for trial related to charges such as r*pe, s*xual assault, trafficking, and more involving multiple women.Meanwhile, Lopez himself was accused by an 18-year-old girl of date r*pe in 1993, which he has consistently denied. The prosecution found no evidence and Mario was never arrested or charged.Later, in 2009, his Saved by the Bell co-star Dustin Diamond wrote in his memoir Behind the Bell that the accuser was allegedly paid $50,000 to “keep her mouth shut” by NBC executives. In the chapter “A.C. Makes the Ladies Scream” after Mario Lopez’s character A.C. Slater, Diamond described him as a womanizer who he claimed often took advantage of his fame and tried to seemingly lure female fans.“(Lopez) hit on every co-star, every extra, every production assistant and every fan he found himself sitting next to,” Dustin wrote.He added he wasn’t surprised by the date r*pe scandal as he knew his former co-star “didn’t take no for an answer.”Mario Lopez has yet to address the current controversy involving his niece. He has been married to Broadway artist Courtney Mazza since December 2012. They have a daughter, Gia, and two sons, Dominic and Santino.