The creator of Cuppy, the star of the web series The Good Advice Cupcake, is calling out BuzzFeed for selling the character to Amazon for an AI-created animated series.
Loryn Brantz took to her Instagram, saying she’s “horrified and disgusted by BuzzFeed taking my character, The Good Advice Cupcake, and giving it to an AI platform.” Brantz initially developed Cuppy as a comic during her time at BuzzFeed before it was adapted into an animated web series by animator and voice actor Kyra Kupetsky.
“My time at BuzzFeed was marked by continually being taken advantage of and lied to,” she continued. “They repeatedly assured me in good faith that they would never do anything with Cuppy without my input, yet offered me no legal options, insisting that I would never need them. The news that this character, who is based on my own personality and whom I created as a microphone to spread love and positivity, has been taken and turned into a soulless AI puppet feels like having my intestines pulled out of my body.”
Brantz concluded, “Somebody leaked the news to me early on that there were talks happening, and I pleaded with the CEO Jonah Peretti directly not to do it. Instead, he tried to talk me into signing an NDA. Obviously, I did not. This is an assault on artists everywhere. I encourage you to boycott BuzzFeed and any AI-produced or adjacent animation.”
