Collien Fernandes accuses ex-husband, Christian Ulmen, of sharing sexually explicit deepfake images of her online
A high-profile German TV star’s allegations that her ex-husband spread AI-generated pornographic images of her have triggered a national debate and put pressure on the government to tighten laws around digital violence against women.
In an interview with the news magazine Der Spiegel last week, Collien Fernandes accused her former husband Christian Ulmen, a prominent TV presenter and producer, of impersonating her online for years and sharing sexually explicit deepfake images.
Fernandes told Der Spiegel of her shock at discovering that hundreds of fake pornographic images of her had been circulating on the internet. It was only more recently that she started to suspect they had been created and shared by Ulmen via fake social media accounts that appeared to be hers, she said.
Ulmen has denied the allegations. His lawyer, Christian Schertz, said the actor will take legal action against Spiegel over what he described as “inadmissible coverage based on suspicions”, accusing the magazine of spreading “fake facts” based on the claims of one person.
