Actress Janhvi Kapoor has opened up about her first encounter with manipulated images like deepfakes, recalling an extremely disturbing experience from her school days. Appearing on the Raj Shamni Podcast, the actress shared how the incident left a lasting impact on her and shaped her views on digital ethics and consent.
Janhvi Kapoor recalls early deepfake experience: “I saw a photo of myself on a porn site”
Reflecting on the episode, Kapoor said, “I don’t know if it was technically a deepfake or not, but it was something like that. I saw a photo of myself on a porn site. We had an IT class in school, and boys would go to those sites for fun – and my photos were there. This was when I was in school. It was a weird experience.”
The actress admitted that the incident forced her to face the darker realities of being in the public eye at a young age. “At some point, I thought, ‘Why? Is this the price you have to pay?’ Like there is no morality in these things. With social media, everyone is just putting things out there. If anything, this new ‘woke’ sensibility has slightly corrected behavior in terms of morality and ethics – but on a larger scale, it is still a problem. A lot of people think it’s normal—’It happens, you’re a public figure, so it’ll happen’,” she said.
Kapoor also expressed concern over the increasing proliferation of AI-generated visuals that misrepresent them. He revealed, “I’m not comfortable with it. There are some scenes of me out there – even broadcast by official news pages – that are completely AI-generated. I’ve never worn those things, I’ve never been photographed that way. But it’s broadcast as if it’s real, creating a certain effect.”
Highlighting the professional implications, she said, “Tomorrow, if I’m doing a film and I tell a director I’m not comfortable wearing something, they might say, ‘But you’ve already done it – people have seen it.'”
Despite his discomfort, Kapoor acknowledged the limitations he felt in speaking out. “It makes you question what the moral guidelines are. Of course, it bothers me. But I feel like I don’t have enough voice or credibility to complain about it. People might say, ‘You’ve got a lot in life, just bear with it. Don’t complain.’ So I don’t think my voice has enough weight yet to address this without any reaction. But it’s not just me – others have talked about it too,” he concluded.
His comments add to the ongoing conversation about AI misuse, digital consent, and the urgent need for stronger ethical boundaries in an age of rapidly evolving technology.
