Renowned film and voice actor Morgan Freeman is sick and tired of people using artificial intelligence to mimic his famous voice.
In an interview shared by The Guardian on Nov. 10, the Oscar-winning performer shared his thoughts about the recent activity and revealed that his lawyers had their plates full going after those responsible.
“I’m a little pissed off, you know,” he told the famous British publication. “I’m like any other actor: don’t mimic me with falseness,” Freeman continued. “I don’t appreciate it and I get paid for doing stuff like that, so if you’re gonna do it without me, you’re robbing me.”
This isn’t the first time the iconic Hollywood performer has addressed the issue. Last year, he expressed his appreciation for fans noticing that a scammer had been using AI to imitate his vocal cords.
“Thank you to my incredible fans for your vigilance and support in calling out the unauthorized use of an AI voice imitating me,” Freeman wrote on X on Jun. 29, 2024. “Your dedication helps authenticity and integrity remain paramount. Grateful.”
Apparently a TikTok user claiming to be the actor’s niece posted videos on the social media platform with an artificial rendition of him talking.
Read more: Wonder Studios raises US$12M in seed for AI film production
Other Hollywood names want AI voice simulators
Freeman’s attitude about the phenomenon is not shared by every famous film star in Hollywood. This month, Interstellar lead Matthew McConaughey and esteemed actor Michael Caine partnered with the AI audio company ElevenLabs to intentionally create artificial intelligence-generated copies of their voices.
“To everyone building with voice technology: keep going,” McConaughey said in stark contrast to Freeman’s sentiment.
McConaughey is an ElevenLabs investor and has sunk an undisclosed sum into the New York-based deep learning software specialist. They have been working together for three years.
“It’s not about replacing voices; it’s about amplifying them,” Caine added in a statement on Tuesday, “opening doors for new storytellers everywhere.”
Nonetheless, a much greater number of celebrity performers have been leaning more toward Freeman’s point of view this year. In March, over 400 industry figures sent an open letter to the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy urging for stronger copyright protections against unauthorized voice clones.
“We firmly believe that America’s global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries,” the letter said. “AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for the films, television series, artworks, writing, music and voices used to train AI models at the core of multibillion-dollar corporate valuations.”
Signatories included Paul McCartney, Guillermo del Toro, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Cate Blanchett, Ron Howard and many more.
Now that's more like it.
Morgan Freeman is taking legal action over AI clones of his voice, not signing up to sell his voice to AI companies like Michael Caine & Mathew McConaughey. https://t.co/XEVwnAHrlW— Ewan Morrison (@MrEwanMorrison) November 12, 2025
Read more: Bryan Cranston takes magic mushrooms to help get into character
Follow Rowan Dunne on LinkedIn
rowan@mugglehead.com
