Keanu Reeves usually will get known as the nicest, coolest A-lister in Hollywood. However he additionally has change into recognized to trigger issues for himself and his followers.
The “John Wick” and “Matrix” star might be probably the most impersonated superstar on the web, which has compelled him to pay a Seattle-based AI firm 1000’s of {dollars} a month to seek out his on-line imitators and get corporations like TikTok and Meta, which owns Fb and Instagram, to close them down.
Reeves’ battle in opposition to on-line scammers, utilizing his likeness for love scams, political messaging and different functions, is described in a brand new story by The Hollywood Reporter. A author for the leisure trade publication went undercover, in a social media manner, to spend time speaking with a faux Reeves account.
At one level in June, Keanu_Reeves68667 tried to get the author, Rebecca Keegan, to purchase a bogus $600 fan membership membership in an effort to meet the actor “in person for sure.” This entreaty got here across the similar time that the actual Reeves was posing for photographs on the crimson carpet along with his girlfriend, artist Alexandra Grant, on the premiere for the “John Wick” spinoff “Ballerina,” Keegan stated.
Keegan additionally hung out with information scientist Luke Arrigoni. He runs a three-year-old firm, Loti AI, which has change into an trade chief in “likeness technology protection.” It helps celebrities, athletes, enterprise leaders and different public figures defend their pictures from unauthorized AI-generated content material and deepfakes.
With Reeves’ permission, Arrigoni revealed to Keegan that Loti had issued almost 40,000 account takedown orders on the “Speed” actor’s behalf over the previous 12 months. Reeves enlisted Arrigoni to do that work as a result of he’s nicely conscious of the way in which his picture is being manipulated on-line. “He cares very much about how his fans are treated, and he’s very invested in trying to solve this problem,” Arrigoni informed the Hollywood Reporter.
Reeves has change into a draw for such scams as a result of “pretty much everybody everywhere on Earth likes (him),” Keegan wrote. However along with being likable, Reeves is also “mysterious,” Keegan stated. He doesn’t preserve a presence on social media and he limits what he shares about himself publicly.
In the meantime, the opportunists have used Reeves’ likeness in quite a lot of methods. “In one subgenre of fakery, Reeves appears to hold up a T-shirt with political messaging on it, sometimes pro-left, some pro-right,” Keegan reported. “In one doctored image, he seems to be endorsing Donald Trump. In another, he is raising awareness of the Indigenous children who were forced into abusive boarding schools in Canada. Most of these are photoshopped alterations of a Getty Images picture of Reeves attending a motorcycle fair in Italy in 2017.”
As soon as Loti points its takedown orders to social media platforms, it usually takes the platforms about 48 hours to resolve the issue. Sadly, “in that brief window, scammers can do a lot of damage,” Keegan reported.
In accordance with the most recent information from the FBI, Individuals reported $672 million in losses to confidence and romance scams in 2024, Keegan reported. The targets of such scams are usually individuals over the age of 60, with Keegan additionally reporting on the case of a 73-year-old lady who misplaced some $100,000 to somebody on-line impersonating Kevin Costner.
This faux Costner satisfied the lady to make weekly bitcoin deposits, saying the cash could be used to begin a brand new manufacturing firm.
“She also was lonely and restless as her marriage was failing, her career had ended and her kids and grandkids were busy with their own lives,” Keegan wrote. “(Fake) Costner’s messages represented some welcome male attention, a fantasy to drop into when real life got too real.”
At one level, this lady obtained a photograph of the “Yellowstone” actor, leaning in opposition to the picket headboard of a mattress. Pretend Costner was holding up a bit of paper that learn, “It’s really me Kevin Costner. I love you so much … i can’t wait to meet you.”
