Last week, it was widely reported that Willis, in the first deal of its kind, had sold his face to a deepfake company called Deepcake.
However, a spokesperson for the actor told the BBC that he had “no partnership or agreement” with the company.
And a representative of Deepcake said only Willis had the right to his face.
Willis announced his retirement from acting in March after being diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder that affects speech.
Deepfakes use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology to create realistic videos – often of celebrities or politicians. For actors that can no longer act, the technology has the potential to be game-changing.
On September 27, the Daily Mail reported that a deal had been struck between Willis and Deepcake.
“Two-time Emmy winner Bruce Willis can still appear in movies after selling his image rights to Deepcake,” the story reads.
The story was picked up by the Telegraph and a series of other media outlets.
“Bruce Willis has become the first Hollywood star to sell his rights to allow a ‘digital twin’ of himself to be created for use on screen,” said the Telegraph.
But that doesn’t appear to be the case. What is true is that a deepfake of Bruce Willis was used to create an advert for Megafon, a Russian telecoms company, last year.
However, Willis’s agent told the BBC, “Please know that Bruce has no partnership or agreement with this Deepcake company.”