Popular voice actress Tara Strong is under fire from fans on social media after sharing her support for what appears to be an AI-generated artwork from a fan.
Strong, who has been in the voice acting industry for over three decades, is widely known for several major roles in many children’s animated series. They include The Powerpuff Girls, The Fairly Odd Parents, Ben 10, Teen Titans, and more.
Strong was also the voice for the English dubbed version of classic Japanese animated film Spirited Away.
Powerpuff Girls AI art
Early this week, Strong shared a now-deleted post on X with an image depicting two popular children’s animated characters, Dora from Dora The Explorer and Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls.
Strong claimed the artwork was made by a person named ‘Reginald Ledan’ on X, and expressed gratitude for their work.
“Thanks for making this, Reginald Ledan ??,” the voice actress allegedly wrote.
Shortly after Strong’s post, many fans responded and pointed out the artwork is likely generated by AI. However, in screenshots of a now-deleted tweet, Strong appears to have acknowledged the possibility that the artwork may have been created by AI. Yet, it seemed like she did not have any problems with it.
“Ya! And so cute!!” she allegedly replied.
“Disingenuous”
Strong quickly attracted intense backlash from fans and artists online, with many viewing her praise of the alleged AI art as endorsing the art style. Thus, many saw the move as ‘disrespectful’ to artists and animators in the industry – without whom Strong would likely not have the opportunity to lend her voice to.
“Disrespecting artists when you wouldn’t be anywhere in life without animation is crazy,” noted a fan on X.
“Why is it okay for Tara Strong to disrespect artists by using AI generated art while she can complain about it disrespecting her?” wrote another.
Some fans further highlighted the hypocrisy in Strong’s stance and pointed out that just a week prior, the voice actress revealed she signed a SAG-AFTRA agreement to attend a meeting on wages and working conditions to prepare for upcoming negotiations with major studios.
“I just signed up… I think AI is a runaway train, there’s no stopping it [and] it’s quite clear many jobs throughout MANY if not most industries will be completely run over, clinging to whatever tracks there are,” she wrote on X.
“I just hope agreements are fair, that voices aren’t stolen, (anymore or as much) and that we aren’t at the precipice of the death of all art,” she added.
Last year, Strong also made a passionate post voicing her opposition towards AI’s presence in the voice acting industry.
“I’m honestly not sure how to combat all the AI companies stealing our voices, but this should be a concern for all people, not just actors. Also… if a company asks you to teach an AI how to say anything [and] everything in YOUR voice, say NO,” she wrote on X in February 2023.
VA and AI ‘voice actors’
Strong, however, is not the first professional in voice acting who caught flack for sharing AI art. Last year, Grey DeLisle, a voice actor for the Scooby Doo animated series, became the target of online backlash after similarly sharing an AI-generated artwork made by a fan.
DeLisle even revealed that she paid the supposed ‘artist’ for the artwork.
At the time of writing, Tara Strong has yet to address the online criticism.
