Deadmau5 slams artist using his likeness in AI-generated video: “Scary as fuck”
The Canadian DJ said that an artist deepfaked his image to promote their own music
Deadmau5 has hit out at an unnamed artist who allegedly used his likeness in AI-generated videos to promote their own music.
The Canadian DJ took to Instagram on February 11, where he said that he’d discovered an artist’s Instagram story that depicted him “standing there promoting him and his music”.
The fake video – which he also shared a screenshot from – allegedly shows Deadmau5 (AKA Joel Zimmerman) without his recognisable helmet on, endorsing the artist’s music.
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“It finally happened,” Zimmerman wrote in a scathing statement. “Welcome to that dystopian future we only dreamed about three years ago.”
Though he redacted the artist’s name, Zimmerman said that the video is “fully AI-generated” to use his likeness and voice. “[The] voice wasn’t quite 100%, but pretty damn convincing,” he wrote.
“Fucking scary as fuck. And I’m sure this is just the beginning for talentless fucks to abuse this tech to further themselves while violating others’ rights in one of the worst ways possible.”
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He continued: “I’m sure we’re all going to be seeing much more of this. AI is fucking great, generative AI not so much; but we need to stop idiots like this from abusing it.”
Speaking to Billboard, Zimmerman said that his lawyer has been working on the ‘NO FAKES Act’ in the US to “create real protections against deepfakes that use our images and voices and fool fans”.
The new legislation was introduced to congress in 2025, and aims to prevent the “unauthorised” use of a person’s image or other likeness, even those who have passed away.
Read Deadmau5’s post below.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on X
