Shilpa Shetty moves Bombay High Court seeking action against deepfake misuse of her identity | Instagram and File Photo
Mumbai, Nov 26: Actor Shilpa Shetty has approached the Bombay High Court seeking urgent protection of her personality and publicity rights, alleging large-scale misuse of her identity through artificial intelligence (AI) tools, deepfake technology, and other digital manipulation. She claims her name, image, likeness, voice, and other personal attributes are being commercially exploited without her consent.
Civil Suit Filed Against 27 Defendants Including Big Tech Companies & Govt Bodies
In a civil suit filed against 27 defendants, including Meta Platforms Inc., Google LLC, X Corp., the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), as well as several online platforms, Shetty has alleged unauthorised content creation, manipulated videos, AI-generated replicas of her persona, and misleading promotional campaigns.
Shetty Cites Her Global Recognition & Long Career
The suit, filed through advocate Sana Raees Khan, describes Shetty as “one of the most celebrated and internationally recognised personalities in the Indian entertainment industry for over three decades”, noting her rise from her 1993 debut to global fame after winning Celebrity Big Brother 5 in 2007, followed by her ventures in fitness, entrepreneurship and her large social-media following.
Allegations of Deepfakes, Controversial Edits & Commercial Misuse
Shetty alleges that the defendants have infringed her personality rights, right to privacy, and moral rights under Section 38B of the Copyright Act, and have engaged in dilution, unfair competition and passing off.
According to the plaint, platforms have extracted clips from her films to create GIFs; used AI to clone her voice, facial features and mannerisms; circulated morphed images, posters and merchandise; and created deepfakes that expose her to “unsavoury humour, ridicule and baseless rumours”, causing “serious harm to her reputation”.
Misuse Came to Light Through Fake “Shilpa Shetty Award Show” Promotion
The controversy surfaced in November 2025, when Shetty discovered that Reels Production Show (Defendant No. 10) was falsely promoting an event titled “Shilpa Shetty Award Show – Client Promotion Packages” by using her name and photographs “without any authorisation, consent or licence.” Subsequent inquiries revealed additional incidents of misuse across multiple platforms.
Seeks John Doe Orders Amid Widespread Online Violations
Citing the relentless spread of manipulated and AI-generated content, Shetty has sought John Doe orders to restrain unknown persons who may also be infringing her rights. The suit says the scale of the violations makes it “impossible for the Plaintiff to keep track of the same and/or identify every single infringer”.
Requests Perpetual Injunction & Removal of All Infringing Content
Shetty has requested a “perpetual” injunction prohibiting the defendants from using her name, image, likeness, signature or any distinctive attribute of her persona “for any commercial or personal gain” without permission. She has also sought directions to remove, block or disable all infringing content and URLs.
Claims Financial & Reputational Loss; Seeks Damages
The actor has further claimed damages of ₹5 lakh, stating she has already suffered financial and reputational loss due to the alleged unlawful activities.
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Past HC Orders Protecting Celebrity Personality Rights
Early this year, the HC has protected the personality rights of veteran singer Asha Bhosle and Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty and restrained social media platforms and web portals from utilising, exploiting or violating such rights. Last year, the HC had restrained certain artificial intelligence (AI) platforms from utilising personality traits of the singer Arijit Singh, including his name, voice, signatures and images.
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