Celebrities who are battling non-consensual AI deepfakes and digital identity theft

'I was like, 'I wish I looked like that...'' These celebrities have had to deal with distressing deepfakes...

They say imitation is a form of flattery, but artificial intelligence is taking copycats to a tacky, terrifying extreme.

This is the era of digital identity theft and celebrities are just a few keystrokes away from having their famous faces stolen by trolls and cyber-scammers for X-rated fakes and financial scams.

Maya Jama was recently left horrified after internet hoaxers mapped her face onto explicit images, even sending one to her mother.

Here are 5 more famous victims...

Taylor Swift

In early 2024, AI-generated, sexually explicit deepfake images of Taylor Swift went viral on social media, drawing international condemnation. While the global pop sensation did not release a public statement herself, the incident led to massive public backlash from her fan base.

In response, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella spoke out directly on the dangers, stating: "We have to act. And quite frankly, all of us in the tech platform space ... we have to put more guardrails around this."

Swift has since filed trademark applications to protect her voice and image from unauthorized AI platforms.

Scarlett Johansson

The Marvel star took legal action against an AI developer after an advertisement used an AI-generated clone of her voice and image without her consent. She later clashed with OpenAI when their chatbot voice sounded identical to hers after she had explicitly declined to voice the project.

She stated: "In a time when we are all struggling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity."

Tom Hanks

The Oscar-winning actor had to alert his millions of followers after a realistic digital replica of his likeness was used without authorisation to promote a promotional dental plan online. Taking to Instagram to set the record straight, Hanks warned his fans: "Beware... There's a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it."

Jenna Ortega

The Scream star shut down her X account after being targeted by explicit, AI-generated deepfakes. Speaking about the trauma of seeing her likeness abused when she was still a minor, Ortega stated told The New York Times: “I hate AI. Did I like being 14 and making a Twitter account because I was supposed to and seeing dirty edited content of me as a child? No. It's terrifying. It's corrupt. It's wrong.”

Tom Cruise

One of the earliest high-profile celebrity deepfakes involved incredibly lifelike TikTok videos of Tom Cruise playing golf and performing magic tricks. While the videos were created as a technical demonstration by visual effects artist Chris Umé rather than a malicious attack, the uncredited realism shocked the public. Umé himself addressed the tech's frightening potential, saying: "You can't use it to put words into people's mouths. It needs to be regulated."