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Add The New York Post on Google It’s the attack of the clones!
An NYC model was allegedly replaced by an AI replica and put in raunchy poses in ads without her consent, according to a lawsuit filed on May 22 in New York Supreme Court.
Francheska Pujols posed against a plain white background sporting various looks during photoshoots for Rainbow USA after she entered a contract with cheap chic retailer Rainbow in September 2024, which allegedly expired on March 15.
The Dominican Republic-born model-actress stuck simple, classy poses with her arms to her side and a neutral expression as she starred into the camera.
But the finalized ads were drastically different and AI generated — placing her doppelganger in sex-up poses and different settings — the lawsuit alleged.
Pujols, 28, who’s strutted down the runway at New York Swim Week and posed on the cover of Canada-based fashion magazine Vigour, alleged the ads ran after the contract expired.
In one of the hyper-realistic created images, Pujols’ AI twin, wearing a light brown skirt and a dark brown cropped top with a cheetah print collar, seductively lays on another woman’s lap while holding a cocktail.
In another, the clone wears a mini denim skirt and a white top with her legs spread wide over a barstool. She holds a camera over her eye with one hand and a drink in the other.
The lawsuit argued this particular pictures’ “crudeness” is wrecking Pujols’ reputation as a high-end model.
The contract allegedly allowed for Rainbow to make minor tweaks to the photos, including cropping and “stylistic alterations” — not to create new ones.
The lawsuit explains that Pujols “did not consent to any use of her name, portrait, picture or likeness — including any AI-generated or AI-altered depictions” after the contract was up.
Pujols, who lives in Manhattan, sent Rainbow a cease and desist in March, but it allegedly hasn’t stopped the brand from using them on its website, digital ads and in stores.
Rainbow’s allegedly brazen move means Pujols — who starred in Amazon Prime series “Hood Deals” and feature film “What Happened at 625 River Road?” — is missing out on licensing fees and that her professional image is being tarnished, the suit alleges.
Pujols demanded a jury trial, accusing Rainbow of defamation, misappropriation, false endorsement and violation of New York’s Right of Privacy Law, which protects people’s names and likenesses from being misused for advertising.
Rainbow fiercely denied any wrongdoing.
“We used our images properly and there’s no violation of her rights,” a spokeswoman for the legal department said.
Pujols dropped the lawsuit Friday and declined to comment when The Post reached out.
It is unclear if Pujols and Rainbow have reached a settlement, but her lawyer Richard Altman said the parties are “seeking to resolve this matter privately.”
Beyond Pujols case, AI has unleashed chaos onto the modeling world, experts told The Post.
“Sometimes technology advances so quickly that the laws are just not able to capture the spirit of the wrong that’s occurring,” Joshua R. Bressler, a strategic business attorney who specializes in intellectual property, said.
“These issues are coming fast and furious. We’re very much in the throes of sorting all this out.”
Model advocacy nonprofit Modeling Alliance has championed the New York Fashion Workers Act, a state law which will take effect on June 19.
The law will tighten up consent requirements, giving models more power over content featuring them in the age of AI.
The act will require the model’s written consent for “digital replicas” before agencies and companies can clone them for content.
Attorney Anthony Lupo, the chairman of ArentFox Schiff, told The Post that AI will soon replace most clothing catalogue models.
“[AI is] going to gut the modeling industry,” Lupo, dubbed the “father of fashion law” by Forbes, said.
Lupo, who works with high-fashion giants including Yves Saint Laurent, Jimmy Choo and Valentino, explained that especially in the world fast-fashion, customers “don’t care” who the models are.
“You’re always going to have supermodels, you’re always going to have runway shows, you’re going to have anything where you’re spending major money,” he said.
“But that accounts for 15% of what companies do. The other 85% is just day to day, ‘I need somebody to wear this.’
“The less established models are going to have real problems making a living just doing modeling.”