6 celebrities hitting back at AI companies: from Taylor Swift’s ‘furious’ reaction to her explicit deepfakes, to Scarlett Johansson, Sarah Silverman and Game of Thrones’ George R.R. Martin’s lawsuits

Mar 1 , 2024

Taylor Swift, Tom Hanks and Sarah Silverman have all felt the effects of AI on their careers. Photos: AP

Through the years, great minds from Elon Musk to Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates have aired their concerns about the power of AI to potentially disrupt – and eventually maybe even end – our lives. But for some celebrities, the consequences are already very real.

Last April, Universal Music Group forced Apple and Spotify to remove the song “Heart On My Sleeve” that was created with the AI vocals of Drake and The Weeknd. Not long after, another AI release had Drake “singing” Ice Spice’s “Munch”, which the rapper called “the final straw” on his Instagram Stories.

AI-created versions of Drake’s vocals were used to cover Ice Spice’s “Munch” without his consent. Photos: @champagnepapi, @_ice_spice_munch_/Instagram

And women in the entertainment industry have had it even worse: most recently, explicit, computer-generated images of Taylor Swift went viral before platforms like X and Instagram could take them down.

So which famous faces are standing up to the AI companies? Here’s a rundown of six of them.

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1. Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow. Photo: Disney

In November last year, the Avengers: Endgame actress sued the company Lisa AI after it created a promotional video using her likeness and voice without her permission. Seemingly speaking from the set of Marvel’s Black Widow, Johansson is shown explaining the benefits of the company’s avatar app.

“We do not take these things lightly,” her lawyer told Variety. “Per our usual course of action … we will deal with it with all legal remedies that we will have.” The ad has since been removed.

2. Sarah Silverman

US comedian Sarah Silverman attends the For Your Consideration red carpet event for the Showtime series Who is America in May 2019, in Los Angeles. Photo: AFP via Getty Images/TNS

In July last year, the Maestro actress and comedian brought a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI, according to The New York Times. The lawsuit claimed the companies “copied and ingested” her work in order to train their AI programmes. Unfortunately for the star, however, her claims were partially thrown out by a judge on February 13.

3. Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks attends the Elvis UK special screening at BFI Southbank in London, England, in May 2022. Photo: Shutterstock

In October last year, a video appeared online purporting to show Elvis actor Tom Hanks promoting a dental plan. He took matters into his own hands by jumping on his Insta account to let people know the truth – that it was in fact an AI avatar and that he had “nothing to do with it”.

Tom Hanks told his followers to “beware” an AI video promoting a dental plan. Photo: @tomhanks/Instagram

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4. George R.R. Martin

Co-executive producer George R.R. Martin arrives for the season premiere of HBO’s Game of Thrones in San Francisco, California, in March 2015. Photo: Reuters

The author behind HBO mega hit Game of Thrones is one of 17 writers attempting to sue OpenAI for using their books to train its ChatGPT programme.

The lawsuit says that ChatGPT has been prompted to create a “detailed outline for a prequel book to A Game of Thrones … using the same characters from Martin’s existing books in the series”, according to The Register.

Per Variety, the authors are seeking financial damages to the tune of US$150,000 per infringed work.

5. George Carlin’s estate

Actor and comedian George Carlin posing in a New York hotel in 2004. Photo: AP Photo

US actor and comedian George Carlin is best known for his stand-up and for lending his voice to characters in Disney’s Cars and Thomas & Friends, among others. On January 9, he appeared to release a new stand-up special on YouTube. The only problem? He died in 2008.

Now his estate is suing the AI video’s creator, Dudesy, per The Guardian. The actor’s daughter Kelly called the special “a poorly executed facsimile” attempting to “capitalise on the extraordinary goodwill my father established with his adoring fan base”.

6. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift performs as part of the Eras Tour at the Tokyo Dome, on February 7, in Tokyo. Photo: AP Photo

When Taylor Swift was gearing up to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce in the Super Bowl at the beginning of the year, she was already the talk of the town. Then an anonymous user dropped sexually explicit deepfakes of the singer onto X (formerly Twitter) and the internet went crazy, viewing them 45 million times before they were taken down, per The Verge.

According to British media, a source close to the singer said she was “furious” and considering legal action, though it’s not yet clear who against.

“These fake AI-generated images are abusive, offensive, exploitative and done without Taylor’s consent and/or knowledge,” the source said. “The door needs to be shut on this.”

Fame and celebrity

When Tom Hanks seemed to endorse an obscure dental plan online, the Elvis actor was as confused as his fans, and took matters into his own hands on Instagram
Even worse, the family of late comedian and Disney voice-over actor George Carlin were horrified to discover a new stand-up special online given that he’d died in 2008 – and decided to sue