Last week, AI-generated photos of Taylor Swift spread across the internet, reigniting fierce debate on the need for AI regulation.
At the time of writing, Swift is reportedly considering legal action against AI-generated images. Even the White House voiced its concern over the issue, saying they are “alarmed” over the circulation of the photos.
However, Swift is far from the first famous celebrity who has had their likeness replicated without consent for graphic material.
1. Scarlett Johansson
Last year, Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against an AI-powered photo editing app that allegedly used her likeness without consent.
The app, Lisa AI, allegedly circulated a 22-second ad featuring a woman that bore Johansson’s likeness to promote their product. The AI-generated footage of Johansson on the ad, however, originated from an old video of her behind the scenes Black Widow.
2. Ariana Grande
Turns out, the Yes, and? songstress Ariana Grande became a primary target for Etsy vendors, after an investigation by Forbes revealed some sellers were selling graphic, NSFW AI-generated merchandise of female celebrities.
3. Xochitl Gomez
In December 2023, Gomez, 17, appeared on a podcast and revealed her experience with dealing with AI-generated deepfakes of herself online.
Gomez, who starred in Marvel’s Doctor Strange, confessed she was not aware of the existence of such deepfakes until she discovered her mother had been battling to have them erased from the internet.
“I was like… ‘Why is it so hard to take down?’… ‘Why is this allowed?’” Gomez told hosts Taylor Lautner and Taylor Lautner.
4. Anil Kapoor
Bollywood icon Anil Kapoor, who became a familiar face in Hollywood via Slumdog Millionaire, became one of the first celebrities to win a lawsuit over AI deepfakes of himself.
In September last year, a court in India ruled in favour of Kapoor over a court order that would protect the actor’s “personality rights” from AI. This meant punters who used Kapoor’s likeness for any content generated by AI online would have said content removed.
