LeBron James Takes Legal Action Against AI-Generated 'Pregnancy' Videos

LeBron James is reportedly trying to stop the spread of viral AI 'pregnancy' videos

The clip shows James being loaded into an ambulance with Steph Curry by his side. It seems like LeBron James' legal team has been trying to stop the spread of viral AI videos featuring the basketball star. As 404 Media , a law firm representing James has sent a cease and desist letter to a person behind an AI platform that allowed Discord users to make AI videos of James and other NBA stars. As 404 noted, these videos have been circulating for awhile but it's one particularly strange clip that seems to have gotten James' lawyers involved. The video, which reportedly racked up millions of views on Instagram, shows a pregnant James being loaded into an ambulance after telling an AI Steph Curry to "come quick our baby is being born." 404 reports that at least three Instagram accounts that had shared the clip have since been removed, though the video is available . The founder of the AI platform used to make the videos also posted about the cease and desist letter . It's unclear what is in the letter, or if James' lawyers were also in touch with Meta about the videos. We've reached out to the company for more info on its rules. Of course, LeBron James is far from the only public figure to grapple with unwanted AI versions of themselves. Social media scammers routinely impersonate celebrities to promote sketchy products and other schemes. We've previously reported on such scams involving and Fox News personalities that have proliferated on Facebook. Jamie Lee Curtis also recently had to publicly plead with Mark Zuckerberg to take down of herself. But the videos of James are a little different. They don't feature fake endorsements and seem to be more of a prank meant to go viral in the way that lots of "AI slop" does. And James and other celebrities will likely continue to have a difficult time preventing these kinds of deepfakes from spreading. Some quick testing by Engadget showed that it's relatively easy to get AI chatbots to create images and video of "pregnant LeBron James." We first asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot to make such a photo. All chatbots initially refused, saying that such an image could go against their guidelines. But when given an image of James and asked to "make this person eight months pregnant," Google's Gemini delivered a 7-second clip of the basketball star cradling a pregnant belly. (We've reached out to Google to clarify its rules around such content.) Likewise, Meta AI seemingly had no reservations about producing images of "pregnant LeBron James" and promptly delivered many such variations. While these creations aren't as detailed as the initial video that went viral, they do highlight how difficult it can be for AI companies to prevent people from circumventing whatever guardrails may exist.

LeBron Trying to Stop Viral AI Videos of Him Pregnant

LeBron James is reportedly unhappy with bizarre AI videos showing him as if he were pregnant and has called in lawyers. This is one of the first times a celebrity has threatened legal action against an AI company. According to a report by 404 Media, James' representatives have sent a cease and desist letter to an individual associated with an AI platform that enabled Discord users to create videos of James and other basketball players. Users of a platform called FlickUp have reportedly been creating strange AI videos of James for months, but one particularly unusual clip appears to have prompted legal intervention. The video, which 404 reports gained millions of views on Instagram, depicts a pregnant James being placed in an ambulance after telling an AI version of Steph Curry, "Come quick, our baby is being born." At least three Instagram accounts that posted the video have since been taken down, though the clip remains accessible on X. The AI platform's founder also publicly acknowledged receiving the cease and desist letter. The contents of the letter remain unclear, and it's unknown whether James' legal team has contacted Meta directly about the videos. "A couple of weeks ago, we received a cease and desist letter from LeBron James' attorney about one of our creators, Interlink AI. In collaboration with Interlink, we had been promoting an AI model trained on LeBron James and a few other iconic basketball players," Jason Stacks, the founder of FlickUp, tells 404 Media. "Within 30 minutes of receiving the cease and desist, 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 and IP, but we're committed to being on the right side of that change." James is not the only public figure dealing with unauthorized AI representations. Fake celebrity content is often used on social media to promote scams and misleading products. Past incidents have included deepfakes involving Taylor Swift and Elon Musk. However, the videos involving James differ from typical scams. Rather than promoting products, they are viral videos designed for engagement so that the creators can make money. Engadget reports that creating similar AI-generated content is relatively easy. And even safeguards placed on commercial generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini can be easily skirted.

LeBron James targets AI company over bizarre deepfake pregnancy videos

NBA superstar LeBron James has become one of the first major celebrities to push back against the unauthorized use of his likeness in AI-generated content. James' legal team recently issued a cease-and-desist letter to FlickUp, the company behind the AI image-generation tool Interlink AI. According to a report from 404 Media, FlickUp disclosed the legal action to members of its Discord community in late June. The Interlink AI tool, hosted on the server, allowed users to create AI-generated videos of high-profile NBA players, including James, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokić, and others. While many of the videos were harmless, some crossed the line into disturbing territory, like a prominent image of the Los Angeles Laker embracing his pregnant belly. One of the most widely viewed videos created with Interlink AI depicted an AI-generated Sean "Diddy" Combs sexually assaulting Curry in a prison setting, while James appears standing passively in the background. That video alone reportedly amassed over 6.2 million views on Instagram. 404 Media confirmed with FlickUp founder Jason Stacks that James' legal team was behind the cease-and-desist letter. Within 30 minutes of receiving it, Stacks said he decided to "remove all realistic people from Interlink AI's software." Stacks also posted a video addressing the situation, captioned simply: "I'm so f**ked." LeBron James is among a growing list of celebrities whose likenesses have been used without consent in disturbing AI-generated content. Pop star Taylor Swift has been repeatedly targeted with deepfake pornography, while Scarlett Johansson and Steve Harvey have both publicly condemned the misuse of their images and voiced support for legislation to curb it. However, James stands out as one of the first to take formal legal action against a company enabling this type of content through its AI tools. Several bills are currently making their way through Congress to address the rise of nonconsensual AI-generated content. The recently passed Take It Down Act criminalizes the publication or threat to publish intimate imagery without consent, including deepfakes and AI-generated pornography. Two additional proposals -- the NO FAKES Act of 2025 and the Content Origin Protection and Integrity from Edited and Deepfaked Media Act of 2025 -- have also been introduced. The NO FAKES Act focuses on preventing unauthorized AI replication of a person's voice, while the latter seeks to safeguard original works and enforce transparency around AI-generated media.

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.

LeBron James' lawyers send cease-and-desist letters to AI company making brainrot videos of him

Owners of an AI tool that allowed them to make "brainrot" videos of popular celebrities have been hit by cease-and-desist letters from LeBron James' lawyers. The representatives of the basketball star have threatened legal action if the AI tool owners and Discord community do not cease creating non-consensual videos of James. The "brainrot" videos of James include clips where he is depicted as being pregnant, in some cases alongside other major celebrities and NBA stars (via 404Media). There are also depictions of James as homeless, and on his knees with his tongue out. The mods of the Interlink AI Discord community informed members that they were removing realistic people models from their platform in late June. It seems as the "brainrot" content continues to dominate social media, more celebrities are becoming aware of the ways in which they are being depicted, and they're not happy.