WARNING, NUDITY: Tiffany Salmond, 27, took the brave step of posting the artificially-generated pictures on social media in a bid to help others understand the vile impact of the exploitation
17:35, 27 Oct 2025Updated 17:37, 27 Oct 2025
A deepfake image of Tiffany Salmond(Image: tiffanysalmond/Instagram)
A popular sports TV presenter has hit out at online trolls after fresh sexually explicit deepfake images of her began circulating
National Rugby League (NRL) host Tiffany Salmond called the disturbing Artificial Intelligence creations a “violation” and a “power move” from those who “felt threatened”. The 27-year-old revealed she had first been targeted back in May when a bikini snap was digitally doctored.
Now she says, the vile fakes have gone “even further”. “Earlier this year, I spoke out about being the target of explicit AI-generated deepfakes – fake sexual imagery made from real photos of me, without my consent,” she posted online.
One of the shocking fake images of Tiffany
“But what I haven’t spoken about until now is the doubt and suspicion that’s followed. Over the past few months, I’ve seen a continued narrative online accusing me of faking the story for attention. Claiming the deepfakes were never real, and that I made the whole thing up.”
The New Zealand-born star said she initially stopped talking about the ordeal, but the harassment never stopped.
“I stopped talking about this months ago because I’d already said what I needed to. But that doesn’t mean it stopped.
“For anyone who assumed it was a one-off, it wasn’t. The deepfakes have continued to be made and posted.
“The most recent deepfake (and the most explicit one yet) was shared online just three weeks ago.”
Photos of Tiffany have regularly been deepfaked this year‘They accused me of faking it’
Salmond said one of the most painful parts wasn’t just the disgusting nature of the images but the people who questioned her honesty, reports news.com.au.
“After seeing people suggest I made this whole thing up – while literally watching new deepfakes of me still being created, I realised something,” she said.
“Most people don’t actually understand what a deepfake is, or how common they’ve become. Especially when it comes to explicit ones made of real people.
“It’s still just a buzzword to most. And unless you’ve made them, shared them, or had them made of you … it’s just a concept, or a theoretical discussion. But that gap in understanding is part of the problem.
“When people don’t see it for themselves, they dismiss it and don’t take it seriously, or assume it’s too far-fetched to be real.”
The sports presenter wants to make other aware of what exactly deepfakes are (Image: tiffanysalmond/Instagram)‘You can’t solve a problem you don’t even see’
The sports presenter took the extraordinary step of posting censored versions of the deepfakes herself in a determined show of just how damaging and invasive they can be.
“You can’t solve a problem you don’t even see,” she wrote. So I’m going to share a few censored versions of the deepfakes that were created using my photos.
“I know it’s unorthodox. But if we’re serious about protecting women from this new, easily accessible technology, then people need to understand what it actually is.
“And to truly understand, you need to see it for yourself. The original shared online was full, AI-generated nudity. There have been so many created and shared over the past few months, that I’ve lost count.”
Tiffany said the fake images made her feel violated(Image: tiffanysalmond/Instagram)‘They deepfaked my proudest moment’
But things took a sinister turn when trolls used a photo from one of Salmond’s proudest career moments – when she appeared on the front of the Sunday Telegraph in Australia after speaking out about deepfakes – and twisted it into something obscene.
“The moment I truly knew I was right, that this was always about power, was when they deepfaked that photo,” she wrote.
“I had to cover my face in that one, they used AI to fake my body, but it was the face that felt most violating.
“It was still recognisably mine, but twisted. Almost demonic. There’s something even more disturbing in that than even the nudity.
“But despite how unsettling that image was … they exposed themselves.
“It wasn’t random, they chose that specific photo because they felt threatened. By a woman who was confident, celebrated and platformed.
“It was retaliation. There was nothing sexual about that photo. But it was symbolic, and the only power move they had left.
“But they didn’t just expose themselves to me. They exposed themselves to each other.
“Because once I spoke out about what the intent behind them really was, it became impossible for the other men in these online spaces to ignore the pattern.
“The pattern that every time I’ve spoken out this year, every time I’ve been platformed, or made a power move – there’s a targeted spike in retaliation.
“And eventually, the other men started seeing it too.”
Salmond thanked her fans for standing by her through the ordeal, while continuing to raise awareness about the growing threat of AI exploitation online.
She hopes that by speaking out, others will understand how devastating and widespread deepfake abuse has become and why action is urgently needed.
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