diff --git a/static/js/components/shared/showcase/MediaRenderers.js b/static/js/components/shared/showcase/MediaRenderers.js
index 9f1a6726..5848ab1a 100644
--- a/static/js/components/shared/showcase/MediaRenderers.js
+++ b/static/js/components/shared/showcase/MediaRenderers.js
@@ -26,8 +26,7 @@ export function generateVideoWrapper(media, heightPercent, shouldBlur, nsfwText,
                 </button>
             ` : ''}
             ${mediaControlsHtml}
-            <video controls autoplay muted loop crossorigin="anonymous" 
-                referrerpolicy="no-referrer" 
+            <video controls autoplay muted loop
                 data-local-src="${localUrl || ''}"
                 data-remote-src="${remoteUrl}"
                 data-nsfw-level="${nsfwLevel}"
diff --git a/static/js/components/shared/showcase/ShowcaseView.js b/static/js/components/shared/showcase/ShowcaseView.js
index 20b7485c..709de8d0 100644
--- a/static/js/components/shared/showcase/ShowcaseView.js
+++ b/static/js/components/shared/showcase/ShowcaseView.js
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
 } from './MediaUtils.js';
 import { generateMetadataPanel } from './MetadataPanel.js';
 import { generateImageWrapper, generateVideoWrapper } from './MediaRenderers.js';
+import { getShowcaseUrl } from '../../../utils/civitaiUtils.js';
 
 export const showcaseListenerMetrics = {
     wheelListeners: 0,
@@ -157,11 +158,19 @@ export function renderShowcaseContent(images, exampleFiles = [], startExpanded =
 function renderMediaItem(img, index, exampleFiles) {
     // Find matching file in our list of actual files
     let localFile = findLocalFile(img, index, exampleFiles);
-    
-    const remoteUrl = img.url || '';
+
+    // Get original remote URL
+    const originalRemoteUrl = img.url || '';
+
+    // Determine media type for optimization
+    const isVideo = localFile ? localFile.is_video :
+                  originalRemoteUrl.endsWith('.mp4') || originalRemoteUrl.endsWith('.webm');
+    const mediaType = isVideo ? 'video' : 'image';
+
+    // Optimize CivitAI URLs for showcase display (full quality)
+    const remoteUrl = getShowcaseUrl(originalRemoteUrl, mediaType);
+
     const localUrl = localFile ? localFile.path : '';
-    const isVideo = localFile ? localFile.is_video : 
-                  remoteUrl.endsWith('.mp4') || remoteUrl.endsWith('.webm');
     
     // Calculate appropriate aspect ratio
     const aspectRatio = (img.height / img.width) * 100;
diff --git a/static/js/utils/civitaiUtils.js b/static/js/utils/civitaiUtils.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0ac0f6a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/static/js/utils/civitaiUtils.js
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+/**
+ * CivitAI URL utilities
+ * Functions for working with CivitAI media URLs
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Optimization strategies for CivitAI URLs
+ */
+export const OptimizationMode = {
+    /** Full quality for showcase/display - uses /optimized=true only */
+    SHOWCASE: 'showcase',
+    /** Thumbnail size for cards - uses /width=450,optimized=true */
+    THUMBNAIL: 'thumbnail',
+};
+
+/**
+ * Rewrite Civitai preview URLs to use optimized renditions.
+ * Mirrors the backend's rewrite_preview_url() function from py/utils/civitai_utils.py
+ *
+ * @param {string|null} sourceUrl - Original preview URL from the Civitai API
+ * @param {string|null} mediaType - Optional media type hint ("image" or "video")
+ * @param {string} mode - Optimization mode ('showcase' or 'thumbnail')
+ * @returns {[string|null, boolean]} - Tuple of [rewritten URL or original, wasRewritten flag]
+ */
+export function rewriteCivitaiUrl(sourceUrl, mediaType = null, mode = OptimizationMode.THUMBNAIL) {
+    if (!sourceUrl) {
+        return [sourceUrl, false];
+    }
+
+    try {
+        const url = new URL(sourceUrl);
+        
+        // Check if it's a CivitAI image domain
+        if (url.hostname.toLowerCase() !== 'image.civitai.com') {
+            return [sourceUrl, false];
+        }
+
+        // Determine replacement based on mode and media type
+        let replacement;
+        if (mode === OptimizationMode.SHOWCASE) {
+            // Full quality for showcase - no width restriction
+            replacement = '/optimized=true';
+        } else {
+            // Thumbnail mode with width restriction
+            replacement = '/width=450,optimized=true';
+            if (mediaType && mediaType.toLowerCase() === 'video') {
+                replacement = '/transcode=true,width=450,optimized=true';
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Replace /original=true with optimized version
+        if (!url.pathname.includes('/original=true')) {
+            return [sourceUrl, false];
+        }
+
+        const updatedPath = url.pathname.replace('/original=true', replacement, 1);
+        
+        if (updatedPath === url.pathname) {
+            return [sourceUrl, false];
+        }
+
+        url.pathname = updatedPath;
+        return [url.toString(), true];
+    } catch (e) {
+        // Invalid URL
+        return [sourceUrl, false];
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get the optimized URL for a media item, falling back to original if not a CivitAI URL
+ *
+ * @param {string} url - Original URL
+ * @param {string} type - Media type ("image" or "video")
+ * @param {string} mode - Optimization mode ('showcase' or 'thumbnail')
+ * @returns {string} - Optimized URL or original URL
+ */
+export function getOptimizedUrl(url, type = 'image', mode = OptimizationMode.THUMBNAIL) {
+    const [optimizedUrl] = rewriteCivitaiUrl(url, type, mode);
+    return optimizedUrl || url;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get showcase-optimized URL (full quality)
+ * 
+ * @param {string} url - Original URL
+ * @param {string} type - Media type ("image" or "video")
+ * @returns {string} - Optimized URL for showcase display
+ */
+export function getShowcaseUrl(url, type = 'image') {
+    return getOptimizedUrl(url, type, OptimizationMode.SHOWCASE);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get thumbnail-optimized URL (width=450)
+ * 
+ * @param {string} url - Original URL
+ * @param {string} type - Media type ("image" or "video")
+ * @returns {string} - Optimized URL for thumbnail display
+ */
+export function getThumbnailUrl(url, type = 'image') {
+    return getOptimizedUrl(url, type, OptimizationMode.THUMBNAIL);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Check if a URL is from CivitAI
+ *
+ * @param {string} url - URL to check
+ * @returns {boolean} - True if it's a CivitAI URL
+ */
+export function isCivitaiUrl(url) {
+    if (!url) return false;
+    try {
+        const parsed = new URL(url);
+        return parsed.hostname.toLowerCase() === 'image.civitai.com';
+    } catch (e) {
+        return false;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/frontend/utils/civitaiUtils.test.js b/tests/frontend/utils/civitaiUtils.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0655fdf9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/frontend/utils/civitaiUtils.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import {
+    rewriteCivitaiUrl,
+    getOptimizedUrl,
+    getShowcaseUrl,
+    getThumbnailUrl,
+    isCivitaiUrl,
+    OptimizationMode
+} from '../../../static/js/utils/civitaiUtils.js';
+
+describe('civitaiUtils', () => {
+    describe('OptimizationMode', () => {
+        it('should have correct mode values', () => {
+            expect(OptimizationMode.SHOWCASE).toBe('showcase');
+            expect(OptimizationMode.THUMBNAIL).toBe('thumbnail');
+        });
+    });
+
+    describe('rewriteCivitaiUrl', () => {
+        it('should rewrite image URLs with /original=true for thumbnail mode', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/original=true/12345.jpeg';
+            const [rewritten, wasRewritten] = rewriteCivitaiUrl(originalUrl, 'image', OptimizationMode.THUMBNAIL);
+
+            expect(wasRewritten).toBe(true);
+            expect(rewritten).toBe('https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/width=450,optimized=true/12345.jpeg');
+        });
+
+        it('should rewrite image URLs with /original=true for showcase mode (no width)', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/original=true/12345.jpeg';
+            const [rewritten, wasRewritten] = rewriteCivitaiUrl(originalUrl, 'image', OptimizationMode.SHOWCASE);
+
+            expect(wasRewritten).toBe(true);
+            expect(rewritten).toBe('https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/optimized=true/12345.jpeg');
+        });
+
+        it('should rewrite video URLs with /original=true for thumbnail mode', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/original=true/12345.mp4';
+            const [rewritten, wasRewritten] = rewriteCivitaiUrl(originalUrl, 'video', OptimizationMode.THUMBNAIL);
+
+            expect(wasRewritten).toBe(true);
+            expect(rewritten).toBe('https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/transcode=true,width=450,optimized=true/12345.mp4');
+        });
+
+        it('should rewrite video URLs with /original=true for showcase mode (no width/transcode)', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/original=true/12345.mp4';
+            const [rewritten, wasRewritten] = rewriteCivitaiUrl(originalUrl, 'video', OptimizationMode.SHOWCASE);
+
+            expect(wasRewritten).toBe(true);
+            expect(rewritten).toBe('https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/optimized=true/12345.mp4');
+        });
+
+        it('should default to thumbnail mode when mode is not specified', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/original=true/12345.jpeg';
+            const [rewritten, wasRewritten] = rewriteCivitaiUrl(originalUrl, 'image');
+
+            expect(wasRewritten).toBe(true);
+            expect(rewritten).toBe('https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/width=450,optimized=true/12345.jpeg');
+        });
+
+        it('should not rewrite URLs without /original=true', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/width=450/12345.jpeg';
+            const [rewritten, wasRewritten] = rewriteCivitaiUrl(originalUrl, 'image', OptimizationMode.THUMBNAIL);
+
+            expect(wasRewritten).toBe(false);
+            expect(rewritten).toBe(originalUrl);
+        });
+
+        it('should not rewrite non-CivitAI URLs', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://example.com/image.jpg';
+            const [rewritten, wasRewritten] = rewriteCivitaiUrl(originalUrl, 'image', OptimizationMode.SHOWCASE);
+
+            expect(wasRewritten).toBe(false);
+            expect(rewritten).toBe(originalUrl);
+        });
+
+        it('should handle null/undefined URLs', () => {
+            const [rewritten1, wasRewritten1] = rewriteCivitaiUrl(null, 'image');
+            expect(wasRewritten1).toBe(false);
+            expect(rewritten1).toBe(null);
+
+            const [rewritten2, wasRewritten2] = rewriteCivitaiUrl(undefined, 'image');
+            expect(wasRewritten2).toBe(false);
+            expect(rewritten2).toBe(undefined);
+        });
+
+        it('should handle empty strings', () => {
+            const [rewritten, wasRewritten] = rewriteCivitaiUrl('', 'image');
+            expect(wasRewritten).toBe(false);
+            expect(rewritten).toBe('');
+        });
+
+        it('should handle invalid URLs gracefully', () => {
+            const [rewritten, wasRewritten] = rewriteCivitaiUrl('not-a-valid-url', 'image');
+            expect(wasRewritten).toBe(false);
+            expect(rewritten).toBe('not-a-valid-url');
+        });
+    });
+
+    describe('getOptimizedUrl', () => {
+        it('should return optimized URL for CivitAI images in thumbnail mode', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/original=true/12345.jpeg';
+            const optimized = getOptimizedUrl(originalUrl, 'image', OptimizationMode.THUMBNAIL);
+
+            expect(optimized).toBe('https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/width=450,optimized=true/12345.jpeg');
+        });
+
+        it('should return optimized URL for CivitAI images in showcase mode', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/original=true/12345.jpeg';
+            const optimized = getOptimizedUrl(originalUrl, 'image', OptimizationMode.SHOWCASE);
+
+            expect(optimized).toBe('https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/optimized=true/12345.jpeg');
+        });
+
+        it('should return original URL for non-CivitAI URLs', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://example.com/image.jpg';
+            const optimized = getOptimizedUrl(originalUrl, 'image');
+
+            expect(optimized).toBe(originalUrl);
+        });
+    });
+
+    describe('getShowcaseUrl', () => {
+        it('should return showcase-optimized URL (full quality)', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/original=true/12345.jpeg';
+            const showcaseUrl = getShowcaseUrl(originalUrl, 'image');
+
+            expect(showcaseUrl).toBe('https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/optimized=true/12345.jpeg');
+        });
+
+        it('should handle videos for showcase', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/original=true/12345.mp4';
+            const showcaseUrl = getShowcaseUrl(originalUrl, 'video');
+
+            expect(showcaseUrl).toBe('https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/optimized=true/12345.mp4');
+        });
+    });
+
+    describe('getThumbnailUrl', () => {
+        it('should return thumbnail-optimized URL (width=450)', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/original=true/12345.jpeg';
+            const thumbnailUrl = getThumbnailUrl(originalUrl, 'image');
+
+            expect(thumbnailUrl).toBe('https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/width=450,optimized=true/12345.jpeg');
+        });
+
+        it('should handle videos for thumbnails', () => {
+            const originalUrl = 'https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/original=true/12345.mp4';
+            const thumbnailUrl = getThumbnailUrl(originalUrl, 'video');
+
+            expect(thumbnailUrl).toBe('https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/abc123/transcode=true,width=450,optimized=true/12345.mp4');
+        });
+    });
+
+    describe('isCivitaiUrl', () => {
+        it('should return true for CivitAI URLs', () => {
+            expect(isCivitaiUrl('https://image.civitai.com/something')).toBe(true);
+            expect(isCivitaiUrl('https://image.civitai.com/')).toBe(true);
+        });
+
+        it('should return false for non-CivitAI URLs', () => {
+            expect(isCivitaiUrl('https://example.com/image.jpg')).toBe(false);
+            expect(isCivitaiUrl('https://civitai.com/image.jpg')).toBe(false);
+            expect(isCivitaiUrl('')).toBe(false);
+            expect(isCivitaiUrl(null)).toBe(false);
+            expect(isCivitaiUrl(undefined)).toBe(false);
+        });
+
+        it('should handle invalid URLs gracefully', () => {
+            expect(isCivitaiUrl('not-a-url')).toBe(false);
+        });
+    });
+});