LeBron James has reportedly issued a cease-and-desist letter to AI developers after discovering deepfake videos that use his likeness in degrading and bizarre scenarios – including depictions of him pregnant or involved in graphic scenes.
As reported by 404 Media, James’ legal team at Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks sent the letter to Jason Stacks, founder of the AI platform FlickUp.
The complaint centered on Interlink AI, a creator partnered with FlickUp, which was distributing detailed guides and AI models to generate videos featuring James and other public figures.
“A couple weeks ago, we received a cease and desist letter from LeBron James’ attorney about one of our creators, Interlink AI,” Stacks told 404 Media.
“Within 30 minutes… we made the decision to remove all realistic people from Interlink AI’s software. Generative AI is the ‘wild west’ when it comes to copyright & IP, but we’re committed to being on the right side of that change.”
The AI-generated content reportedly included depictions of James as a homeless man, on his knees with his tongue out, and as a bystander in a fictional prison assault scene involving AI versions of Diddy and Steph Curry.
Interlink’s Discord server had even provided instructions for creating such videos and hosted a “wins” channel where users shared and celebrated this content.
In June, Interlink AI moderators told users they were removing all “realistic people models” to avoid further legal risk: “We ran into legal issues involving a highly valued basketball player,” they wrote. “This move protects the future of the platform.”
Some of these deepfakes had garnered millions of views on Instagram. Meta has since taken down three accounts sharing the nonconsensual videos, though it’s unclear whether it did so in response to James’ legal threat.
This may be one of the first high-profile legal moves against AI deepfakes that aren’t explicitly sexual, raising broader concerns about image rights and AI ethics in the digital age.
LeBron James threatens legal action over AI company making deepfakes showing him pregnanthttps://t.co/NPH0nqGIl5
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 26, 2025
