LeBron James Not Happy With AI Videos Showing Him Pregnant
Basketball star LeBron James’ attorneys apparently sent a cease and desist letter to the developers of a popular AI service that created videos and images of famous NBA stars in bizarre situations — including one of James lying on a couch, clutching a pregnant belly.
Jason Stacks, owner of AI platform FlickUp, confirmed to 404 Media that he’d received a letter from James’ lawyers, prompting the company to tweak its tech so that people wouldn’t be able to make silly slop videos of James in improbable situations (as well as other stars, such as Steph Curry.)
“I’m so f*cked,” said Stacks on an Instagram Reels video flagged by 404. “This is a letter from one of the biggest NBA players of all time. Two months ago, I launched the YouTube of AI video. It was a fun idea to help creators make some more money. But then people started noticing… Like this guy, yeah, the LeBron James. And he wasn’t happy, because I got this cease-and-desist from his team.”
James’ reaction to this AI intrusion on his personal image could be a sign of things to come for future legal actions from celebrities, who have been popular subjects for deepfake AI-generated videos that range from bizarre to pornographic. 404 reported that James’ attorneys’ actions appear to be one of the first instances in which a celebrity has kicked off legal action against a platform creating AI videos of their likeness without consent.
Much of this deepfake celebrity content proliferates on social media. Notorious examples include Taylor Swift; last year, nonconsensual sexual images of her circulated on the social media platform X.
Steve Harvey, comedian and game show host for Family Feud, was also subjected to deepfakes. Many of the videos are of him in funny situations such as dressed up as a rockstar, but there have been instances where his likeness has been used in online scams.
To combat the issue, a team of US senators and representatives are trying to get a bill passed termed the NO FAKES ACT, which would give people intellectual property rights over their image and speech, among other protective provisions.
“In this new era of AI, we need real laws to protect real people,” said bill co-sponsor Rep. Maria Salazar, from Florida. “The NO FAKES Act is simple and sacred: you own your identity — not Big Tech, not scammers, not algorithms. Deepfakes are digital lies that ruin real lives, and it’s time to fight back.”
There’s genuine tension here between the First Amendment right to parody public figures — or create bizarre art depicting them — and the icky feeling of violating someone’s autonomy by showing them doing something they never did.
How the courts will settle it is anyone’s guess, but if there’s one eternal reality on display here, it’s that celebrities can get special treatment with some legal muscle, even if the courts might not ultimately rule in their favor.
