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| Actress and TV host Collien Fernandes appeared before a large crowd in Hamburg (Image: Getty Images) |
One of Germany's most well-known television stars was moved to tears when she told thousands of protesters from a Hamburg stage that she had to wear a bulletproof vest because she had been threatened with death. In shocking allegations that were published in the German news magazine Der Spiegel a week ago, 44-year-old Collien Fernandes accused her ex-husband of spreading online pornographic deepfakes of her. Her claims have triggered demonstrations, promises to tighten the law and criticism that Chancellor Friedrich Merz has bungled his response.
Christian Ulmen, Fernandes' former husband, denies the allegations and has not been charged. He is also filing a lawsuit against the publication that first reported the story. The BBC has been informed by Ulmen's prominent media attorneys, Christian Schertz and Simon Bergmann, that Ulmen has never "produced and/or distributed deepfake videos of Ms. Fernandes or any other individuals." These assertions are false." They argue that the incident between Fernandes and Ulmen has nothing to do with the German debate regarding deepfake pornography's legal loopholes.
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| Christian Ulmen denies producing or distributing any deepfake videos, his lawyers say (Image: Getty Images) |
For a number of years, Ulmen and Fernandes were regarded as a prominent celebrity couple who shared numerous television, presenting, production, writing, and acting roles. The case has captivated Germany in part because of the pair's status as public figures. However, regardless of how this case turns out, it has also brought to light people's outrage at what campaigners claim are obvious flaws in criminal law. Ten "demands" have been issued by 250 women from politics, business, and culture, one of which calls for the clear criminalization of producing and distributing sexualized deepfakes without consent. Rapper Ikkimel, center-left SPD party labor minister Bärbel Bas, and climate activist Luisa Neubauer are members of the group.
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| Berlin saw a large demonstration in support of Collien Fernandes a week ago (Image: Getty Images) |
Stefanie Hubig, the federal minister of justice, has announced plans to amend the law to make the production and distribution of pornographic deepfakes a clear criminal offense. According to draft plans seen by German media, the offense would carry a maximum sentence of two years in prison. Currently under German law, only the dissemination of such pictures is potentially punishable if it is found to have breached someone's right to their own image.
On Thursday night, Fernandes spoke about the abuse she has endured since making her allegations public in front of thousands of protesters gathered in her home city of Hamburg. "Men want to kill me, so I'm standing here with a bulletproof vest and police protection." She claims that on Christmas Day 2024, her ex-husband admitted to her that he had been posting fake, sexualized images of her online. She told Der Spiegel, "It was like receiving news of a death." "I couldn't speak, I couldn't cry."
That has been refuted by Ulmen's attorney Schertz, who claims that the most important details about Ulmen have been reported "demonstrably."
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| Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig has announced plans to criminalise deepfake porn images(Image: getty Images) |
Fernandes has filed a legal complaint in Spain, where the couple previously lived together, making allegations of threats and abuse.
However, Ulmen's attorneys claim that their client has not been singled out for "unilateral attribution of blame," rejecting her description of the circumstance. The TV presenter told German public broadcaster ARD that she chose to make a complaint in Spain as it has stronger gender-based violence laws than Germany - a country she describes as a "paradise for perpetrators".
There is no denying that AI-generated pornography has affected Fernandes. The material is out there on the internet and her broader claims, about being the victim of online abuse, are not new.
In a 2024 ZDF documentary titled Deepfake porn: Digital abuse, she previously discussed this. In November 2024, Fernandes lodged a criminal complaint in Germany against persons unknown, a month before she alleges that Ulmen confessed.
In light of the Spiegel report, it has come to light that an investigation has been reopened in Germany. The BBC was informed by the public prosecutor's office in Itzehoe, a small town near Hamburg, that the previous investigation was halted in June due to the lack of "leads" regarding who might have allegedly set up fake accounts in Fernandes' name. The prosecutor's office added, "It should be noted that the presumption of innocence applies in favor of the accused." The story is also exerting political pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has been criticized for a long time for being out of touch with younger, female voters, which critics sometimes refer to as his "woman problem." When asked about violence against women in parliament on Wednesday, Merz said that there had been an "explosion" of violence in the physical and digital spheres with a "considerable portion" originating from immigrant groups.
The chancellor's remarks did receive some applause in the Bundestag, including from lawmakers from the far-right AfD and his own conservative CDU colleagues. However, others say his remarks were misjudged, including Clara Bünger of the Left party who told German TV: "Whoever points as a reflex to immigration in violence against women, downplays structural violence instead of fighting it."
Although specific nationalities are not specified, government statistics indicate that non-Germans are overrepresented as suspects in family and domestic violence cases. In this instance, non-German suspects are individuals with foreign nationality, statelessness, or unknown nationality. In these statistics, anyone with both German and another nationality is considered to be German, and no general migration history is recorded. Meanwhile, the number of female victims of violence and other crimes, in person and online, has risen to an all-time high in Germany, according to police crime statistics for 2024.
Source: BBC
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