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LeBron James isn’t thrilled about deepfake videos of him, and his legal team is taking action
FlickUp founder Jason Stacks says LeBron James’ legal team sent him a cease-and-desist over deepfake videos created on his platform.
NBA stars like LeBron James are no strangers to memes and viral internet content about their lives being circulated online. However, a new trend of people creating deepfake videos has recently cropped up, and as per AI platform FlickUp’s founder Jason Stacks, the Los Angeles Lakers player is not that thrilled about it.
Cease-and-desist letter
In a recent Instagram reel, Stacks revealed that James’s legal team had issued him a cease-and-desist letter in lieu of the deepfake content being created using his platform. “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, LeBron James. And he wasn’t happy, because I got this cease-and-desist from his team,” says Stacks.
"I'm so f**ked 😭,” he wrote in the caption.
This is in reference to multiple deepfake videos created by online users, including one where James is pregnant with Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry’s baby.
Former teammate speaks in support
James’s former teammate Richard Jefferson spoke up in support of the player’s attempt to remove content potentially harmful to his image during a recent appearance on the Road Trippin’ podcast. We see the value in name, image, and likeness,” he claimed. “This is one of the issues with AI. All of a sudden, videos depicting whatever you want. They’re saying whatever you want. Think for all human beings, what people are doing isn’t a positive thing.
Kendrick Perkins, Jefferson’s co-host, also spoke up on the matter. “If it is true that LeBron and his team are sending out those cease and desists and stopping that s***, I’m all for it,” he said. “You have one name. Protect that m*********** name!”
This is one of many efforts of James’s legal team to take charge of his online narrative and address issues concerning the illicit use of famous personalities. It also points out the dangers of the unregulated use of such technology.
By Stuti Gupta
