Shilpa Shetty moves Bombay High Court against AI deepfakes and misuse of her identity

Actress and wellness entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty Kundra has approached the Bombay High Court, alleging massive misuse of her identity through artificial intelligence tools, e-commerce platforms and social media. In a suit filed under the Commercial Courts Act, Ms Shetty has named 28 defendants, including websites, AI platforms and global tech giants, accusing them of exploiting her name, image, voice and likeness without consent for commercial gain.

The petition, filed through lawyer Sana Rais Khan, seeks immediate ex-parte injunction, removal of the infringing content, disclosure of seller details and damages of ₹5 lakh. Ms Shetty has also sought appointment of a court receiver to seize the infringing goods and electronic data and direction to government agencies to remove the unlawful material.

The actor’s plea states that the actions of the defendants “violate my fundamental right to privacy under Article 21 and tarnish the reputation and goodwill I have built over decades.” She became aware of the abuse in November 2025 when an event titled “Shilpa Shetty Awards Show – Client Promotion Package” was advertised without her consent. They claim that breaches have continued on a daily basis across all platforms since then.

The petition alleges that the AI-powered tool has created deepfake videos and voice clones depicting them in “obscene, indecent and derogatory contexts”. It also points to GIF-hosting platforms using clips from her films without permission and e-commerce sites selling products like “Shilpa Shetty Yellow Saree” and “Fear Less – Shilpa Shetty Celebrity T-Shirt” as false endorsements.

Jewelery marketed as a “Shilpa Shetty inspired choker set” and manipulated visuals circulating on Reddit and other platforms are among the examples cited.

Ms Shetty argues that these acts violate her personality rights under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution, moral rights under Sections 38, 38A and 38B of the Copyright Act, and amount to passing off under common law.

The petition says the defendants include Amazon and Flipkart for hosting infringing listings, while Meta, Google and X Corp have been named for enabling the spread of manipulated content. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications have been included as pro forma parties to ensure implementation of the court orders.

“No one can use or copy any aspect of my personality – be it my name, image or voice – without consent,” Ms Shetty said in her petition, warning that low-quality goods and offensive content “demean my personality and mislead the public.” The actor has sought a dynamic injunction to block infringing content and mirror websites in the future, and a John Doe order to restrain the unknown wrongdoers.