George Clooney’s offhand joke about posthumous AI exploitation has already come true while he’s still alive.
The actor, 64, made the quip during a Venice Film Festival press event on September 2, the same day he received the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Speaking about artificial intelligence and deepfake technology, he warned that the industry is “on our back foot” and failing to take the lead on regulation.
“It’s going to hurt us in a lot of ways,” Clooney said. “If you’re a visual effects supervisor, you’re going to have trouble coming up because that’s going to be a lot of jobs taken away. Probably about 30 percent of the jobs. I don’t know what the real number is, but there’s going to be a big number of jobs that are going to be taken away.”
Then he turned personal. “Well, I would like to avoid being in a tampon commercial 20 years after I’m dead,” Clooney joked. “I would like to avoid that.”
He neglected to mention whether the same fate would bother him while living. That loophole was exploited almost immediately. An AI creator on X generated a fake Clooney starring in a spot for “First’s Ultra Absorbent Tampons,” set in what appears to be a luxurious bathroom. The synthetic Clooney declares the fit “unparallel,” confesses he too “love[s] the fit,” and urges viewers to choose the brand because “quality matters.”
Social media users piled on with mockery and Nespresso references. “Is it backwards compatible in my Nespresso machine,” one X user wrote. Another predicted: “I have a feeling that this will be the first of many. I also have a feeling that your video will be one of the kindest. Poor George, I fear he might have unleashed a monster.”
“He must see his vision come to light!” someone else posted. Another wrote: “OMG.. I am so glad you did this!! I hope he sees!!”
The tampon spoof lands particularly sharply given Clooney’s longstanding and lucrative association with Nespresso coffee commercials, which have made him one of Hollywood’s most recognizable brand pitchmen.
Beyond the viral prank, Clooney used the Venice platform to reflect on his decades in film. “Careers are really funny,” he said. “It’s so many different accidents that get you here, so many different lefts and rights, and things that could have gone wrong or right. It’s hard to sustain all of that, and you have to rely on kindness of friends and kindness of people you work with,” He added: “But it really requires luck all the way through.”
The Venice Film Festival runs through September 7.