New York Seizes a Dozen Celebrity Deepfake Websites | WIREDSkip to main contentMenuWIREDSECURITYPOLITICSTHE BIG STORYBUSINESSSCIENCECULTUREREVIEWSMenuWIREDAccountAccountNewslettersSecurityPoliticsThe Big StoryBusinessScienceCultureReviewsChevronMoreExpandThe Big InterviewMagazineEventsWIRED InsiderWIRED ConsultingNewslettersPodcastsVideoLivestreamsWIRED StoreSearchSearchMatt BurgessSecuritySep 14, 2026 12:50 PMNew York Seizes a Dozen Celebrity Deepfake WebsitesIn the biggest-ever legal action against harmful deepfake websites, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has seized 12 sites that collectively targeted around 1,200 victims.Photo-Illustration: Jobanny Cabrera; Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyFor the best part of a decade, abusive deepfake “pornography” websites have published thousands of nonconsensual videos depicting women, including high-profile celebrities, politicians, and public figures, into sexual situations. Now, in what is likely the largest takedown of explicit deepfake websites to date, officials in New York have seized more than a dozen of the harmful sites.On Monday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced the seizure of 12 domains which it says have been used for “unlawfully” sharing, publishing, and selling celebrity deepfake videos. Around 1,200 people—overwhelmingly women—were depicted in nonconsensual sexual images and videos on the websites, the office says. These included social media influencers, actors, activists, athletes, musicians, and politicians.“These horrific violations of privacy follow victims into their careers and personal lives and take an immense toll on emotional and mental well-being,” district attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement, urging potential victims to come forward and contact his office’s cybercrime bureau. The office says its investigations into who is responsible for the websites, plus those who uploaded damaging videos of victims, are ongoing.The seizures, carried out under New York’s criminal procedure laws, mark perhaps one of the most significant and sweeping actions against websites hosting explicit deepfake videos since the technology first emerged at the end of 2017. As artificial intelligence technology has improved, a dark industry of websites, apps, and bots has appeared: They are designed to “undress” photos of women or create graphic sexual videos that include them. The images and videos are increasingly realistic and can be generated in seconds.While deepfake technology is widely used against non-famous women and girls—often being shared in private social media groups—celebrities have spoken out about the many harms of being depicted in the content and the challenges of getting it removed. While laws against deepfakes have been slow to emerge, the US Take It Down Act increasingly allows images to be removed, with part of the law allowing law enforcement officials to take down and seize websites.The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has not publicly named the websites it has seized. However, ahead of Bragg’s announcement, WIRED independently observed several of the sites’ homepages being replaced by takedown notices—“THIS DOMAIN HAS BEEN SEIZED”—late last week, with the sites now saying they have been taken over following a seizure warrant issued by a New York State Supreme Court.“The takedowns are a significant win in the fight against synthetic nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII),” says Leonie Oehmig, a researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), who has studied the deepfake creation ecosystem. Oehmig says that enforcement of state laws shows that the harmful content can be tackled and that the seized sites don’t appear to be accessible if using VPNs to try and access them from other locations. “This shows that meaningful, coordinated enforcement is achievable even where regulation itself remains fragmented across jurisdictions.”The websites were likely viewed millions of times. Many used names that included phrases such as “sex celebrity” or promised “real deepfakes.” They hosted false videos of some of the world’s most famous celebrities, with one saying, “various actresses’ faces are used for deepfakes.”Videos could be several minutes in length and include fully sexually explicit scenes—often swapping the faces of celebrities or public figures into existing pornographic videos. Archived versions of the websites show some videos had been watched tens of thousands of times, with one of the websites claiming to have been online since 2018.“Most videos took the shape of actual pornographic movies, manipulated to instead show targets’ faces instead of the original actors,” says Benjamin Shultz, the lead researcher at the American Sunlight Project, a nonprofit. Shultz, who has been documenting deepfake abuse against political figures and had come across some of the websites during this research, says that many videos appeared to be reposts of content that had originally be shared on the MrDeepFakes website, a notorious deepfake platform that was taken offline after its creators were unmasked by reporters.“On at least two of the seized websites, elected officials were given profiles containing their name and position, along with a grid of manipulated videos hosting their likeness,” Shultz says. Through recent research, Shultz says that 56 European politicians had been mentioned or appeared on the websites, including 16 US politicians and two based in the UK.While Oehmig, the ISD researcher, says the takedowns are encouraging, there are many other parts of the deepfake industry that are causing serious harm. “Effective intervention needs to target the ecosystem at multiple points, including the tools used for the creation of synthetic NCII, the discovery and promotion of these, the hosting and technical infrastructure that keeps them online, and the payment and affiliate systems that enable operators to monetize them,” Oehmig says.CommentsBack to topJoin the discussionCommentsBack to topTriangleYou Might Also LikeIn your inbox: WIRED's most ambitious, future-defining storiesAI slop backlash is actually having an impactBig Story: The cop who took on FlockThe rise of the 1am job interviewWatch: I stole a car by hacking this hidden deviceMatt Burgess is a senior writer at WIRED focused on information security, privacy, and data regulation in Europe. He graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in journalism and now lives in London. Send tips to [email protected]. ... Read MoreSenior writerXTopicsartificial intelligenceDeepfakescelebritiesCrimepornInternetprivacyRead MoreSexually Explicit Deepfake Sites Target 100-Plus Politicians in EuropeAn analysis of 160 deepfake websites reveals politicians in 22 countries appear on them. Nearly all of them are women.Matt BurgessMeta Failed to Catch Hundreds of AI Child Abuse Ads. Some Included Images of Real KidsImages of real children—including a member of a European royal family—were used to create some of the 350 ads containing child sexual abuse. Lawmakers say they plan to investigate.Matt BurgessSan Francisco Orders Meta to Stop ‘Allowing’ AI Child Abuse AdsThe City Attorney’s Office has asked Meta to explain how the harmful ads repeatedly ran on Facebook and Instagram. 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The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office recently executed a significant legal action by seizing twelve websites suspected of being used for the unlawful sharing, publishing, and selling of celebrity deepfake videos, marking what is considered one of the most sweeping takedowns of explicit deepfake websites to date. These websites had been actively publishing thousands of nonconsensual videos depicting women, including high-profile celebrities, politicians, activists, athletes, and musicians, into sexual situations over the past decade. The office determined that these violations inflicted an immense toll on the emotional and mental well-being of the approximately 1,200 victims who were portrayed in these images and videos.

This action is situated within the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, where advancements in deepfake technology have enabled the creation of increasingly realistic and instantaneously generated explicit content. While deepfake technology is utilized against non-famous women and girls, celebrities have highlighted the severe harms associated with their depiction in such content and the difficulty in removing it. Although legal frameworks against deepfakes have been slow to develop, legislation such as the US Take It Down Act allows law enforcement officials to seize websites, providing a mechanism for addressing this issue.

The seizure of the domains was carried out under New York’s criminal procedure laws, signifying a major enforcement effort against synthetic nonconsensual intimate imagery. While the District Attorney’s Office did not publicly name the seized sites, independent observation indicated that these domains quickly displayed takedown notices, suggesting that seizure warrants issued by the New York State Supreme Court were effective in overriding access efforts. Researchers studying the deepfake creation ecosystem suggest that these takedowns demonstrate that coordinated enforcement is achievable across fragmented jurisdictions.

The seized websites were known to be highly trafficked, with some hosts using names that explicitly referenced "sex celebrity" or promised "real deepfakes." These platforms hosted videos, some of which were several minutes long and featured fully sexually explicit scenes created by swapping the faces of celebrities or public figures into existing pornographic material. Archived content indicated that some of these sites had been active since 2018, and some videos were reposts of content originally shared on platforms like MrDeepFakes. Furthermore, research revealed that at least two of the seized sites featured profiles of elected officials along with manipulated videos of their likenesses, with research indicating that 56 European politicians, including sixteen US politicians, were mentioned or appeared on these platforms.

Despite the success of these targeted takedowns, experts contend that effective intervention requires a multi-pronged approach targeting the entire deepfake ecosystem. This intervention must extend beyond the hosting infrastructure to include the tools used for creation, the discovery and promotion of synthetic content, the technical infrastructure that maintains these sites online, and the payment and affiliate systems that allow operators to monetize the illicit material. The overall goal is to address the systemic harms generated by synthetic nonconsensual intimate imagery.