The deepfake video featured AI-generated versions of Jewish celebrities wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the Star of David, a hand giving the middle finger and Kanye West's name.
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Scarlett Johansson has warned of the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) after a deepfake video, featuring the actress alongside other prominent Jewish celebrities protesting against Kanye 'Ye' West's recent antisemitic tirade, began circulating online.
The video featured more than a dozen AI-generated versions of celebrities, including Stephen Spielberg, Jerry Seinfeld, Drake, David Schwimmer and Adam Sandler, each wearing t-shirts showing the Star of David alongside a hand giving the middle finger and West's name.
“It has been brought to my attention by family members and friends, that an AI-generated video featuring my likeness, in response to an antisemitic view, has been circulating online and gaining traction,” Johansson said in a statement to People magazine.
“I am a Jewish woman who has no tolerance for antisemitism or hate speech of any kind. But I also firmly believe that the potential for hate speech multiplied by AI is a far greater threat than any one person who takes accountability for it. We must call out the misuse of AI, no matter its messaging, or we risk losing a hold on reality.”
The fake video also depicted Natalie Portman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Adam Levine and Lenny Kravitz, ending with the slogan: “Enough is enough. Join the fight against antisemitism.”
Kanye West's antisemitism
West, now known as Ye, was dropped by his talent agency after posting a series of antisemitic rants on the social media platform X, in which he said: “I’m a Nazi … I love Hitler.”
During a 30-second Super Bowl commercial on Sunday, West also directed audiences to his 'Yeezy' fashion website that was selling t-shirts emblazoned with a swastika. The retail platform Shopify has since taken the website down for violating policies, while Fox Television Stations CEO, Jack Abernethy, condemned the ad in a note to staff.
"The ad, which was presented as a legitimate online apparel site before and during the airing of the Super Bowl, was switched at some point afterwards, and completely outside of our stations' control respondents to the commercials were redirected toward the marketing of a wholly appalling product," Abernethy said, in a report obtained by Variety.
It was also reported on Tuesday that West is being sued by a former Jewish employee for alleged wrongful termination, along with gender and religious discrimination.
Scarlett Johansson's fight against AI
This is not the first time the 40-year-old actress has been vocal about the misuse and potential dangers of non-consensual AI.
Last year, Johansson began an online feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman after his company used a voice resembling hers for their ChatGPT-4o model - despite the fact she had previously turned down their requests to do it.
“Before we could connect, the system was out there,” she said in an interview with the New York Times, also calling deepfake technology a “dark wormhole you can never climb your way out of.”
She added: “Once you try to take something down in one area, it pops up somewhere else. There are other countries that have different legislation and rules. If your ex-partner is putting out revenge, deepfake porn, your whole life can be completely ruined.”
The deepfake Kanye West protest video was created by Ori Bejerano and Guy Bar, two digital marketers for the Israel-based agency Gitam BBDO. It adds to ongoing and increasingly complex conversations about AI's impact on Hollywood, with Oscar nominated films The Brutalist and Emilia Pérez recently courting controversy for their use of the technology.
