\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby Sidnee Michelle <\/p>\n
July 4, 2026<\/p>\n
The complaint alleges the retailer created an AI-generated version of his likeness<\/p>\n
Nigerian-Australian model Elii Emeghebo has filed a racial discrimination complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission, alleging menswear retailer Peter Jackson used artificial intelligence (AI) to digitally alter his appearance by lightening his skin and changing his facial features without his consent,<\/a> raising new legal questions about AI\u2019s growing role in advertising, Afrotech<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n The complaint, first reported June 30 by ABC News Australia<\/em>, alleges the retailer exceeded the terms <\/a>of Emeghebo\u2019s modeling agreement by creating and displaying an AI-generated version of his likeness in a Sydney storefront. According to the filing, his contract authorized the use of his original photographs only across the company\u2019s digital platforms and did not permit AI-generated modifications or additional commercial uses.<\/p>\n Emeghebo said he discovered the altered image while walking past one of the retailer\u2019s stores.<\/p>\n \u201cMy nose was reshaped, my skin tone and my eye colour was significantly lightened, and there\u2019s some reshaping around my eyebrows and my eye shape to be more Eurocentric and a lot less black,\u201d he told the Australian outlet.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a good thing when you go from a shoot, something you\u2019re really proud of \u2026 and you walk past the shop and see basically you, but without your identity there. It was really confronting and really unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n Paloma Buhagiar Cole, principal legal officer at Victoria\u2019s Young Workers Centre, which is representing Emeghebo, argued that responsibility lies with those who chose to publish the altered image.<\/p>\n \u201cHuman beings chose to use those particular images and decided the image that is devoid of Elii\u2019s identity was the one they wanted to use,\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a very specific contract that allowed for specific use \u2026 so they haven\u2019t actually paid for the use of that image here,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Peter Jackson acknowledged using \u201cAI-assisted tools\u201d that produced what it described as a \u201csubstantially transformed image\u201d of Emeghebo but denied race played any role in the editing process.<\/p>\n The company said the model was fully compensated for the original photo shoot and maintained that his unaltered photographs were used in accordance with the parties\u2019 agreement.<\/p>\n \u201cAny suggestion that we intentionally engaged in racial discrimination is false, and we reject it unequivocally,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n The complaint adds to a growing number of disputes over AI-generated advertising, highlighting unresolved questions surrounding consent, compensation, and the legal protections afforded to models whose likenesses are digitally altered for commercial use.<\/p>\n RELATED CONTENT: LSU Community Is In Shambles Due To AI \u2018Cheating\u2019 Allegations<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Sidnee Michelle July 4, 2026 The complaint alleges the retailer created an AI-generated version of his likeness Nigerian-Australian model Elii Emeghebo has filed a racial discrimination complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission, alleging menswear retailer Peter Jackson used artificial intelligence (AI) to digitally alter his appearance by lightening his skin and changing his 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NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"by Sidnee Michelle July 4, 2026 The complaint alleges the retailer created an AI-generated version of his likeness Nigerian-Australian model Elii Emeghebo has filed a racial discrimination complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission, alleging menswear retailer Peter Jackson used artificial intelligence (AI) to digitally alter his appearance by lightening his skin and changing his…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33159,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33157\/revisions\/33159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}