Alleged Deepfake of Whoopi Goldberg Used in Fake Weight-Loss Supplement Ads on Instagram

Whoopi Goldberg warned viewers of The View about an AI-generated scam using her likeness to promote fraudulent weight-loss products on Instagram. Goldberg stated that she had no involvement with the ads, which falsely depicted her endorsing harmful supplements.

Risk classification

• Primary risk domain: 4 Malicious actors
• Primary risk subdomain: 4.3 Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation

The incident involves malicious actors using an AI-generated deepfake of a celebrity's likeness to create a fraudulent advertisement to scam users into buying faulty weight-loss supplements.

Additional risk subdomains

• 3.1 False or misleading information: The deepfake ad generated false and misleading claims about Whoopi Goldberg endorsing a weight-loss product.

Causal factors

• Entity: Human
• Intent: Intentional
• Timing: Post-deployment

The incident was caused by human actors intentionally using AI deepfake technology post-deployment to create a fraudulent advertisement for financial gain.

EU AI Act risk tier

• Risk tier: 3 Limited Risk

Risk Level 3: Limited Risk. The report describes the creation of a deepfake, which falls under the transparency obligations of the EU AI Act where users must be informed they are interacting with AI-generated content. The definition explicitly lists 'AI-generated content such as deepfakes' under Risk Level 3.

AI system and alleged parties

• AI system: None named
• AI purpose: Deepfake Video Generation; Voice Generation
• Behaviour type: Tool
• Alleged developer: Unknown deepfake technology developers
• Alleged deployer: Unknown scammers impersonating Whoopi Goldberg
• Alleged harmed parties: Whoopi Goldberg, General public, Fans of Whoopi Goldberg, Consumers misled by fraudulent ads

Harm severity

Severity ratings are based on this scale.

Highest direct severity in any category: Minor. Severity is scored from Negligible to Catastrophic in each harm category, for harm the reports describe as caused directly or indirectly by the AI system.

• Physical: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Infrastructure: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Property: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Financial: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Environmental: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Malicious content: direct Minor, indirect Negligible
• Differential treatment: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Civil rights: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Democracy: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Privacy: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Psychological: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Epistemic: direct Minor, indirect Negligible
• Child sexual exploitation and abuse: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible

Malicious content

Reported: Yes

Directly caused: The creation and distribution of an unauthorized AI-generated deepfake video of Whoopi Goldberg on Instagram to promote fraudulent products.

Inferred additional harm: The deepfake video was likely viewed by thousands of Instagram users before being flagged or removed.

Epistemic

Reported: Yes

Directly caused: The fabrication of a celebrity endorsement using AI-generated video, misleading the public about Goldberg's actions and recommendations.

Inferred additional harm: This contributes to the erosion of public trust in online media and celebrity endorsements, as users can no longer easily distinguish real videos from deepfakes.

People affected

• Occurrences reported: 1
• People reportedly harmed: 1
• People reportedly exposed: 1

Potential causes

Technology

• AI Deepfake Generation: AI-mouthed video generation allowed realistic impersonation of the celebrity.
• Anonymity of AI Tools: Difficulty in tracing the origin and creators of the AI-generated media.

Data Inputs

• Publicly Available Media: Celebrity's public videos were harvested to train the AI deepfake model.
• Public Health Discussions: Public comments on her weight loss provided context for the deceptive ad.

Human Factors

• Malicious Intent of Scammers: Cybercriminals deliberately exploited AI to deceive the public for profit.
• Consumer Susceptibility: Viewers may trust celebrity endorsements, making them vulnerable to scams.

Process and Methods

• Inadequate Ad Vetting: Instagram failed to detect and block the deceptive AI-generated advertisement.
• Lack of Rapid Takedown: No swift mechanism was in place to remove deepfake ads once reported.

Regulatory Environment

• Lack of Deepfake Regulations: Absence of strict legal frameworks governing AI-generated likenesses in ads.

Information quality

• Classification confidence: High
• Reason for confidence: The report clearly details the nature of the incident: a celebrity's likeness was deepfaked to sell fraudulent weight-loss supplements on Instagram. While the specific AI tool used is not named, the classification of the incident as a deepfake scam (4.3) is highly unambiguous and supported by direct quotes from the victim.
• Ambiguities identified: The specific AI software or platform used to generate the deepfake is not identified, and the exact number of users who viewed the ad or purchased the product is unknown.
• Alternative interpretations: None. The incident is a clear-cut case of commercial deepfake fraud.

An AI-generated deepfake of actress Whoopi Goldberg was used in fraudulent Instagram advertisements to promote weight-loss supplements. This incident represents a minor national security threat, categorized primarily as commercial fraud and epistemic harm, with no broader implications for critical infrastructure, government functions, or state sovereignty.

• Overall national security impact: Minor
• Scope: Single nation
• Primary target: United States
• Alleged perpetrator: Unknown

Threat characteristics

• Imminence: Long-term. Represents an ongoing, strategic concern regarding the proliferation of commercial deepfakes rather than an active national security crisis.
• Autonomy: Human-controlled. The AI system was used as a tool by human creators to generate synthetic media based on direct inputs.
• Novelty: Established threat. Celebrity deepfake scams for commercial products are a well-established and frequently observed threat vector.

Impact by dimension

• Physical security: Negligible. No physical systems, critical infrastructure, or kinetic capabilities were targeted or affected by this commercial deepfake scam.
• Information security: Minor. Involves unauthorized synthetic media generation of a public figure, but is limited to commercial fraud rather than state-sponsored information warfare or intelligence compromise.
• Sovereignty: Negligible. No government functions, electoral systems, or sovereign state authorities were impacted by this incident.
• Economic security: Negligible. The incident represents localized consumer fraud rather than a systemic threat to strategic industries, financial systems, or technological competitive advantage.
• Societal stability: Minor. The incident causes minor epistemic harm by eroding public trust in media through unauthorized celebrity likeness manipulation, but does not threaten broader social cohesion or human rights.