A German television host and actress has revealed that her spouse distributed pornographic deepfake content of her online for nearly a decade, as reported by Der Spiegel. Collien Fernandes shared her distress over the proliferation of fake explicit images and videos of herself on the internet in an article published by the German magazine last month.
According to Fernandes, fake social media profiles posing as her disseminated the deepfakes and engaged in sexual conversations with multiple individuals who believed they were interacting with the actress. She mentioned that these interactions occasionally escalated to phone calls and even phone sex with someone using an AI-generated voice to mimic her.
In the article, Fernandes, 44, accused her husband, Christian Ulmen, 50, of being responsible for creating the deepfakes and managing the fake social media accounts. The couple announced their separation in September 2025 and finalized their divorce recently. Fernandes has taken legal action against Ulmen in Spain, where they reside.
Ulmen’s legal representatives criticized Der Spiegel’s coverage as “one-sided” and “unlawful” in a statement shared on social media. The news of Fernandes’s ordeal has sparked widespread discussion in Germany, where both Fernandes and Ulmen are prominent figures in the entertainment industry.
The case has reignited the conversation around gender-based violence, drawing parallels to recent high-profile instances like Gisèle Pelicot’s experience of serial rape by her husband and others. Experts and commentators have drawn comparisons, labelling Fernandes as a “digital Pelicot” for bravely speaking out against what she terms as “virtual rape.”
Fernandes’s revelations shed light on the misuse of technology to perpetrate harm, particularly in the form of non-consensual deepfake pornographic material. The incident underscores the urgent need for social media platforms and AI companies to be held accountable for facilitating and profiting from such abuses.
Efforts are underway to address such issues globally, including proposed legislative changes in Germany and Canada to combat the production and dissemination of pornographic deepfakes. Fernandes’s case has ignited public outrage, leading to protests against gender-based violence and calls for stricter regulations to protect individuals from digital abuse.
