Would you buy a TV because the box featured a photo of a celebrity? Me neither, but apparently there are lots of people out there who would. This week Dua Lipa filed a $15M lawsuit against Samsung for using a her image on its packaging without her permission, and the fallout should be a lesson to brands everywhere.
The filing claims that an image of Dua Lipa was used on boxes for a "significant portion" of Samsung televisions, creating the impression she endorsed the products.
Samsung has hit back at the claims, arguing that the image came from a third-party content provider which assured the company the necessary rights had been cleared. (Samsung also says it has "great respect for Ms Lipa and the intellectual property of all artists".)
But regardless of who wins in court, the timing of this one speaks to a bigger issue. Because this isn't just about one pop star on a TV box. It's about the increasingly fragile relationship between brands, creators and authenticity in the AI era. Consumers are already struggling to work out what's real online. Questionable licensing and outsourced content pipelines are, like algorithmically generated slop, just another example of poor transparency.
Brand trust is becoming arguably the most valuable currency in tech. And yet, many brands operate like sprawling, faceless content machines, churning out artificially generated sludge and outsourcing content creation to agencies, subcontractors and asset libraries. Somewhere along the chain, someone ticks a rights clearance box and the machine carries on moving. Until a global superstar spots her own face on a 65-inch box.
What makes this case a warning to brands everywhere is that this isn't some small, inexperienced brand overstepping the mark. Because if a brand as large as Samsung can stumble into this kind of mess, what hope do the little guys have?
Dua Lipa suing Samsung for $15M over allegedly using her image on TV packaging without consent is bigger than celebrity drama.This case is about something massive in the digital era:Your face = intellectual property.According to reports, Samsung allegedly used a backstage…May 13, 2026
And along with the legal issues, there's the reputational fallout. It's ironic that, in a world of tech brands racing to appear the most innovative and future-facing, one poorly-managed image rights dispute can make a brand look clumsy and inauthentic.
It's clear from the response on social media that Samsung isn't coming off well from this one. 'What nonsense," one Redditor comments on the brand's statement. "It's her face, get her permission."
So the lesson to brands goes beyond 'check your licences properly'. In today's AI-seeped world, brand trust is no longer built simply on sleek products and glossy celebrity collabs. It's built on authenticity, which means, for a start, knowing where your content came from.
