Kanye West Video Creator Defends Showing AI Celebrities Without Permission
The co-creator of a viral video using AI-generated celebrities to protest Kanye West’s antisemitism is defending his decision to use the stars’ likenesses without permission.
In an interview released Feb. 13, the Israeli founder of an AI tech hub called Elevaitor expanded on his previous statements about the video’s creation. The video created a sensation when it was released earlier this week and depicted Jewish A-listers wearing a white shirt slamming West for his long history of antisemitic statements and his attempt to sell a swastika T-shirt.
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The co-creator, Guy Bar, was asked by The Jewish Chronicle (video below), “A lot of the celebrities that are in the video haven’t actually stood up against antisemitism. Was there a conscious decision to use those celebrities instead of Jewish activists?”
Replied Bar: “It had to be [created] very, very fast. If you take time [after West’s T-shirt controversy], it wouldn’t be relevant. You must make very quick decisions. They are very famous. They are the most famous Jewish [celebrities] in the world. They are very relevant to Kanye West’s world. In a perfect world, the real [people would be] doing [the video with] their voice. I wish they would share it and say, ‘We definitely agree with this video, we want to spread it all over.'”
Some of the top reactions to Bar’s statement were critical of his reasoning: “I love the video but they needed permission,” wrote one. Another opined: “However important this dude believes his video response is, or however important the message, using images of people who have not signed up or consented is wrong. Anyone could pull anyone into a campaign that they have no knowledge of. The creator of the video thinks he can just play God with AI and whatever he does is justified. It’s a weird paradox of reactively fighting a celeb Nazi with an unethical form of representation.”
Previously, Bar said to The Jerusalem Post that he was able to create the video in about 24 hours.
“We expected the video to gain traction, but we didn’t anticipate just how massive it would become,” he said. “We believe its impact comes from the fact that it touches a raw nerve for so many people worldwide — people who are tired of violence, exhausted by racism, and fed up with antisemitism … All the public figures featured in the video are Jewish … We wanted to use their voices, so to speak, to tell Kanye West: ‘Your antisemitism and incitement to violence have crossed every possible line. Enough is enough.'”
Scarlett Johansson, who is among those portrayed, previously released a statement criticizing the unauthorized use of her likeness: “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 A.I. is a far greater threat than any one person who takes accountability for it. We must call out the misuse of A.I., no matter its messaging, or we risk losing a hold on reality.”
Below is the original video, which shows celebrities such as David Schwimmer, Steven Spielberg, Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler, Sacha Baron Cohen and more.
Both Schwimmer and Isla Fischer had previously spoken out about West’s stunt on their own Instagram feeds.
On Sunday night, Yeezy bought Super Bowl ad time in some local markets. His bizarre commercial showed West in his dentist’s chair showing off his diamond-encrusted teeth. “I spent like all the money for the commercial on these new teeth,” he said. “Once again I had to shoot it on the iPhone. Um, go to Yeezy.com.”
But the website only offered one item: a $20 white T-shirt with a black swastika. During West’s subsequent tweet spree, the rapper also declared that he loved Hitler and called himself a Nazi. Later that day, Shopify shut down West’s brand’s ecommerce website, telling The Hollywood Reporter in a statement about the removal that Yeezy.com violated policy.
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