This morning Star Ashley James has hit back after AI was used to create a disturbing advert in her likeness, promoting weight loss pills.
Ashley has been left ‘devastated’ at the thought of anyone buying such pills on her so-called recommendation, calling the false ad a ‘violation’.
Taking for it Instagram this weekend the presenter and activist started in a video: “I have a confession. I have taken pills for weight loss.
“At least, that’s what you’ve been led to believe…”
The footage then cuts to a digitally generated version of Ashley being interviewed on the This Morning sofa by Ben Shephardwhere she appears to reveal the weight loss results and benefits of taking such drugs.
It’s incredibly realistic, featuring the This Morning color scheme, ITV logo, and an AI character that looks and sounds exactly like her.
‘I’ve tried everything. Seriously, everything. Each new diet was both hopeful and disappointing,” begins her AI personality.
“I thought I should just give up, but then I saw an interview with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee where he explained that being overweight isn’t your fault – it’s an age-related metabolic failure and he’s developed a formula that restarts your metabolism, so I decided to give it a try.
As the text on the screen boldly states, ‘She lost 27 kilos in just one month!’, the character adds: ‘A week later, I was under nine kilos. Three weeks later, I am 27 years old.
‘I feel light again. I love my reflection in the mirror again.’
In her expert removal of the clip, true Ashley then informs her followers: ‘A lot of you sent me this ad so I just want to be really clear – it’s not me. It is entirely AI generated.’
“Not only have I never said this, I have never taken these pills, I have never heard of these pills and most importantly, I would never promote them,” she insists.
“I am honestly devastated that someone could buy these products believing that I recommended them.”
Formerly Made in Chelsea star, who is known and loved for her body-positive content social mediaadded that she ‘always rejects’ any sponsorship opportunities involving diets or weight loss pills.
So not only does this feel like a total violation, but the message behind it makes me incredibly angry.
“We already live in a world where women are constantly being told to shrink themselves, to be smaller, to be thinner, to take up less space. And this is only getting worse with the rise of weight loss injections.’
Continuing her rant in the caption, Ashley admitted that, “if (she) didn’t know better,” she would have assumed the AI ad was real, too.
“Someone has taken my face and voice and turned it into an ad telling women to lose weight. If you know anything about me, you’ll know that this is the exact type of messaging I’ve spent years fighting against.’
She went on to cite other examples of public figures targeted by deepfakes, with Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis was forced to recall similar content in the past after members of the public were defrauded out of thousands of pounds by following bogus financial advice.
“I do not endorse these products and would never tell you, or anyone else, to shrink or diet,” Ashley concluded in her written caption. And if you see this ad, please report it. Because the way social media platforms are allowing this is shameful! It’s scary when you think about it.’
In the comments, celebrity friends were eager to offer their support, expressing shock at the ad.
“This is absolutely shocking,” he wrote Carol Vorderman. ‘What is recourse in law?’
Sarah Jayne Dunn commented: ‘😮 this is so scary!!’
“This is horrible!!!” echoed Dani Harmer, while Faye Tozer fumed: “Nothing about this is okay 🤬”
Ashley has long been a public advocate for body acceptance, especially when it comes to motherhood.
In a post discussing the harmful rhetoric surrounding postpartum bodies, Ashley wrote in January: “The world looks at a mom’s body and sees something to fix, but our kids see it as their first home and love it.”
She proudly declared that, “baby or not, we should never have learned to hate something so magical.” Our bodies are magic.’
The mother of two also often posts bikini photos from different angles to encourage other people to feel confident.
Earlier this year, she wrote: “I’m more confident in my body now than ever before. And I’m proud of that and I never want my daughter to see me hating my body.’
The TV personality recently published her first book, titled Bimbo in a nod to the labels she’s been given online and in an effort to reclaim them.
It became a bestseller, detailing her raw experiences and breaking down the oppression and expectations of women throughout their lives.
While promoting it, she told BBC Woman’s Hour: “Often, if people disagree with me, they’ll go online and say, ‘She’s just a bimbo.’
But it’s not just “bimbo”, it’s all the labels that I feel are given to women, be it “bossy”, “cold”, “shy” and even in old age, like “crone” or “hag”. I really wanted to explore how these labels shrink us and keep us small.’
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