Deepfakes are AI-generated media manipulations – deceptively real and hardly recognizable. Who has already been a victim and what is behind the Elmen scandal? Find out now.
A scandal surrounding the presenter and actor Christian Ulmen is currently shaking the German media landscape. For years he is said to have distributed fake sexual material about his ex-wife Collien Ulmen-Fernandes and thus virtually abused her. His actions are said to have been made possible through the use of so-called AI-generated deepfakes. What are deepfakes – and who has already been affected?
How do deepfakes work?
Deepfakes refer to synthetically generated or deliberately manipulated media content – usually in the form of videos, images or audio recordings – that are created using modern artificial intelligence and machine learning methods. The aim of these technologies is to create deceptively realistic representations of people or events that never actually took place. Faces are often swapped, voices are imitated or behaviors are artificially created. Such manipulations are often difficult or impossible for the audience to recognize as fakes, which makes deepfakes an increasingly relevant phenomenon in the digital information space.
Who has already become a deepfake victim?
There are many different dimensions and application contexts in the area of deepfakes. Deepfakes are not only used in a sexual context, as in the Collien Ulmen-Fernandes case – they are also used to create fake advertising, for fraud or to spread political opinions. What are the most prominent cases of deepfake campaigns?
1. Taylor Swift
At the beginning of 2024, explicit content from the singer was distributed en masse. One of these pornographic posts alone generated 45 million clicks. It was probably the biggest deepfake scandal to date. The case also made it public that 96 percent of those affected are women. The content was created in 4Chan and Telegram communities. Fans then started a counter-campaign under the hashtag “#protect Taylor”.
2. Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson is also one of the most common deepfake victims due to her popularity and the enormous amount of data about her on the Internet. In addition to disseminating sexual content, they also advertised products and disseminated political opinions. A viral deepfake video showed her sharing a political message without her consent.
3. Kylie Jenner
Reality star Kylie Jenner also fell victim to deepfakes – albeit in a dimension other than pornographic. Her persona was used to promote cosmetic products and get people to buy them. The videos were used, among other things, to circulate fake discount campaigns. Unlike Taylor Swift, for example, the focus here was on the direct financial enrichment of the perpetrators.
4. Barack Obama
In 2018, a deepfake video of Barack Obama was released in which he appeared to publicly insult a political opponent. It was later clarified that it was a fake. The video was created by director Jordan Peele and served to educate people about the dangers of deepfakes.
5. Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence was probably the most prominent victim of the iCloud leak scandal in 2014. At that time, explicit content from several celebrities was stolen and published through hacking. The incident formed the basis for later developments around deepfakes: images of the actress became training material for AI and were often used as templates.
