“Protect Maine Mendoza at all costs!” cried out her fans as the 25-year-old actress becomes the latest celebrity to fall victim to a fake video scandal that has been circulating online.
Maine took to Twitter to express alarm over the clip especially because the woman in it looked like her due to “deepfake manipulation,” wherein anyone’s face can be digitally edited to replace that of another person similar in physical appearance.
Photo: Maine Mendoza (@mainedcm) Instagram
“Wtf???? Sobrang kamukha ko kinilabutan ako pero hindi ako to (Wtf? She looks exactly like me, but I am not her)!” the actress-television host said on Twitter last week.
Maine’s management agency, All Access to Artists Inc., has already released a statement denying allegations made that the woman in the scandalous clip in question is Maine herself. The agency also warned the public that they will be suing people who will continue sharing the video online.
“All Access to Artists, Inc. and Ms. Mendoza hereby inform the public that the video is fake. It has been manipulated using deepfake technology. Ms. Mendoza is not involved in the said video and neither does she participate in the making of pornographic and other explicit materials,” the statement read.
“We will not hesitate to take appropriate legal action against any person circulating the same,” it continued. “We intend to hold those individuals criminally and civilly liable for the damage caused to Ms. Mendoza. We remind the public to be more discerning of the content they see online and to help us take down this voyeuristic and defamatory content.”
— Rams David (@ramsdavid) December 23, 2020
Maine’s mother reportedly visited the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday, December 28, to air her grievance and seek help to take the video down.
“Hindi siya makatarungan. Lumagay man kayo sa ‘min bilang magulang, siguro mararamdaman niyo ‘yung sakit na nararamdaman naming pamilya niya (It is not right. Please put yourselves in our shoes as her parents, I’m certain you’d feel the pain our family is feeling),” she told reporters.
As of writing, the NBI is still tracing the source of the video.
(ALSO READ: Arjo Atayde Has a Sweet, Intimate 30th Birthday Celebration with Maine Mendoza and Family)
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