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Low reported severity Lawsuit Filed

Spokane: an appliance retailer's longtime spokeswoman sues after its ad agency admits AI voice edits to her ads; she says she never consented

Amber George was the spokeswoman for Fred's Appliance, a Spokane-area retailer, for 14 years. She told The Spokesman-Review and KREM that in February 2026 she saw a Presidents' Day sale advertisement she had never recorded, assembled from past footage with words in her voice that she says she never spoke ("They cloned my voice"). Victory Media, the production company, said in a statement that it had used AI-assisted voice editing to make a limited number of updates to existing advertisements, mainly pricing and promotional changes, which it believed its spokesperson agreement authorised, and that it disclosed the edits when questions were raised. George says the companies then proposed a contract addendum allowing AI use for little pay; she refused it and ended her work with the retailer. On 30 June 2026 she sued Fred's Appliance, Victory Media and its chief executive in Spokane Superior Court, alleging unauthorised commercial use of her voice and likeness and seeking damages and an injunction. Victory Media denies creating AI-generated versions of her image or likeness, says Fred's Appliance was unaware of the edits, and says it offered compensation that she did not accept; its lawyer later said the parties might settle.

AI system
Unidentified voice-cloning tool
Occurred
Feb 2026
Reported
1 July 2026
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Professional Harm
Whose AI use
An institution’s AI use
Setting
Work
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources
6 claims: 6 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: Unnamed AI-assisted voice editing used by the production company Victory Media to change words in existing Fred's Appliance advertisements voiced by the spokeswoman

Reported harm

George says advertisements carried words in her voice that she never spoke and was never asked about, that the AI use diminishes her value as a spokeswoman because she cannot control what words come out of her mouth, and that she ended her 14-year work with the retailer after refusing an AI addendum. These are her own and her lawsuit's allegations; the companies say the edits were authorised by contract.

Outcome

Pending

George's lawsuit was filed in Spokane Superior Court on 30 June 2026 against Fred's Appliance, Victory Media and Victory Media's chief executive, seeking damages to be decided at trial and an injunction. The companies' lawyer said on 1 July 2026 that the parties could be close to settling out of court. No ruling or settlement is reported in the inspected sources.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tool was used and how many advertisements carried edited words; the company refers to a list of known instances that is not published.
  • The exact dates the edited advertisements aired; the Presidents' Day spot places the first in February 2026.
  • Whether the contract authorised the edits, which is the dispute before the court.
  • Whether George's claims that her image or likeness was altered by AI, beyond the voice, are supported; the company denies them.
  • Whether the case settled.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Victory Media's statement, quoted by both outlets, acknowledges "AI-assisted voice editing to make a limited number of updates to existing advertisements, primarily involving pricing and promotional changes". George says the Presidents' Day advertisement used words in her voice that she never recorded ("This is not my voice! These are words I never spoke."). The AI-edited voice is the output that presented her as saying words she had not said, and it is what her refusal of the AI addendum, the end of her work with the retailer and her lawsuit concern. The tool is not named, and the company denies any AI alteration of her image.

6 claims: 6 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported In February 2026 George saw a Presidents' Day advertisement for the retailer that she had not recorded, made from past footage with words in her voice that she says she never spoke and was never asked about.

Causal attribution. George's own account and her lawsuit's allegation; both outlets interviewed her, so it is one witness.

  • spokesman.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'But in February, George noticed on social media that Fred’s, and production company Victory Media, had created a President’s Day advertisement' and 'They were using past footage and bits and pieces from different commercials.' and '“They never once told me what they were doing or asked for my consent.” she said.'
  • krem.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The lawsuit alleges that in February, George noticed that the company's President's Day ad was one that she had not recorded' and '‘This is not my voice! These are words I never spoke.''
Reported Victory Media said it had used AI-assisted voice editing to make a limited number of updates to existing advertisements, mainly pricing and promotional changes, that it believed its spokesperson agreement authorised them, and that it denies creating or publishing AI-generated versions of her image or likeness.

Causal attribution. The company's own statement, issued through its lawyer and quoted by both outlets; one origin.

  • spokesman.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'We acknowledge that we used AI-assisted voice editing to make a limited number of updates to existing advertisements, primarily involving pricing and promotional changes.' and 'Victory Media did not create or publish AI-generated versions of her image or likeness'
  • krem.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'We believed those uses were authorized under our spokesperson agreement and were consistent with our contractual rights.'
Reported After George raised concerns, the companies proposed a contract addendum allowing AI use, which she refused, and she ended her work with the retailer.

Causal attribution. George's account; KREM attributes the addendum to documents it saw.

  • spokesman.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'After she raised concerns, Victory Media and Fred’s offered her an addendum to her contract that would allow them to use artificial intelligence to create more advertisements.' and 'In response, George ended her work with Fred’s Appliance'
  • krem.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'the company attempted to introduce an "AI Addendum" to her contract, which she refused. She later ended her work with the companies.'
Reported George said the AI use diminishes her value as a spokeswoman because she cannot control what words come out of her mouth.

Causal attribution. George's own statement of the effect on her.

  • spokesman.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'When they use AI, it diminishes my value as a spokeswoman. I can’t monitor or stop what words are coming out of my mouth.'
Reported George sued Fred's Appliance, Victory Media and its chief executive in Spokane Superior Court, alleging unauthorised commercial use of her voice and likeness and seeking damages and an injunction.

Causal attribution. Both outlets report the filing and quote the complaint; the complaint itself was not read, and its allegations remain allegations.

  • spokesman.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'who filed a lawsuit in Spokane Superior Court on Tuesday.' and 'Defendants have engaged in unlawful commercial exploitation of Ms. George’s exclusive property rights involving her past work' and 'The suit names Fred’s Appliance' and 'along with Liberty Lake-based Victory Media and' and 'who is the CEO of Victory Media.'
  • krem.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'George is seeking damages in an amount to be decided at trial, along with an injunction to prevent the companies from continuing to use her likeness.'
Reported Victory Media said it disclosed the edits when questions were raised, that Fred's Appliance was unaware of the edits, and that it offered compensation that George did not accept; its lawyer later said the parties could be close to settling.

Causal attribution. The company's statements; George's side of the compensation offer is not reported.

  • krem.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'We proactively disclosed the AI-assisted voice edits' and 'Victory Media also noted that Fred's Appliance was unaware of the edits made.' and 'we offered to compensate our former spokesperson rather than engage in costly litigation. That offer was not accepted'
  • spokesman.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Lam issued a statement later Wednesday indicating that the parties could be close to settling the matter out of court.'

Sources

2 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-10-12 from the publisher page (full article); no translation was needed and the research agent (an AI) read the text directly. Applies to s1.

Read in English on 2026-10-12 from the MSN syndicated copy of the KREM article (assets.msn.com detail AA27mfrz, provider KREM-TV Spokane); no translation was needed and the research agent (an AI) read the text directly. Applies to s2.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: United States.

The advertisements were for Fred's Appliance, which has stores in Spokane, Spokane Valley, Coeur d'Alene, Kennewick and Montana, and were produced by Liberty Lake-based Victory Media; George worked for the retailer in that market. The suit is in Spokane Superior Court, Washington.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-12: Published on the production company's own acknowledgement, quoted by The Spokesman-Review and KREM, that it used AI-assisted voice editing to change existing advertisements voiced by George, together with her account that the edits put words she never spoke in her voice without her consent and that she ended her work after refusing an AI addendum. The AI-edited voice is the described output and her loss of control over her voice and work is the reported harm. Claims stay reported because they rest on George's account, her complaint and the company's statement.

People described

Amber George, a Spokane spokeswoman and performer who voiced and appeared in Fred's Appliance advertisements from 2012 and is the named plaintiff.

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One person: Amber George, whose voice was edited in the advertisements and who brought the suit. Viewers of the advertisements are an audience and are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#voice-cloning#ai-voice-editing#advertising#spokesperson#consent#likeness#lawsuit#spokane

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Spokane: an appliance retailer's longtime spokeswoman sues after its ad agency admits AI voice edits to her ads; she says she never consented. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-spokane-appliance-retailer-spokeswoman-ai-voice-edited-ads-without-consent-lawsuit

BibTeX

@misc{2026_spokane_appliance_retailer_spokeswoman_ai_voice_edited_ads_without_consent_lawsuit,
  title = {Spokane: an appliance retailer's longtime spokeswoman sues after its ad agency admits AI voice edits to her ads; she says she never consented},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-spokane-appliance-retailer-spokeswoman-ai-voice-edited-ads-without-consent-lawsuit}
}

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