Bruce Willis denies selling rights to his face

Last week, it was widely reported that Willis, in the first deal of its kind, had sold his face to a deepfake company called Deepcake, Qazet.az reports.

However, a spokesperson for the actor told the BBC that he had "no partnership or agreement" with the company. 

And a representative of Deepcake said only Willis had the rights to his face. 

Willis announced his retirement from acting in March after being diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder that affects speech. 

Deepfakes use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology to create realistic videos - often of celebrities or politicians. For actors that can no longer act, the technology has the potential to be game-changing. 

On 27 September, the Daily Mail reported that a deal had been struck between Willis and Deepcake. 

"Two-time Emmy winner Bruce Willis can still appear in movies after selling his image rights to Deepcake," the story reads. 

The story was picked up by the Telegraph and a series of other media outlets. 

"Bruce Willis has become the first Hollywood star to sell his rights to allow a 'digital twin' of himself to be created for use on screen." said the Telegraph. 

But that doesn't appear to be the case. 

What is true is that a deepfake of Bruce Willis was used to create an advert for Megafon, a Russian telecoms company, last year.