Longtime spokeswoman sues Fred's Appliance over use of AI likeness

For the past 14 years, Spokane residents learned about upcoming sales and promotions at locally owned Fred's Appliance through the voice and smiling face of Amber George.

But in February, George noticed on social media that Fred's, and production company Victory Media, had created a President's Day advertisement, which of course, featured her.

"Wait a minute, I didn't film this," George said this week, recalling her reaction upon seeing the spot. "They were using past footage and bits and pieces from different commercials. They cloned my voice.

"It was really like a shock," she continued. "I trusted them."

After she raised concerns, Victory Media and Fred's offered her an addendum to her contract that would allow them to use artificial intelligence to create more advertisements.

In response, George ended her work with Fred's Appliance and contacted Spokane attorney Bob Dunn, who filed a lawsuit in Spokane Superior Court on Tuesday.

"Defendants have engaged in unlawful commercial exploitation of Ms. George's exclusive property rights involving her past work by: including it in new or materially altered advertisements, using it across different media, using still images to form video footage, using behind-the-scenes content to promote the business ... all without her authorization or compensation to her," Dunn wrote.

He alleged misconduct and damages because her commercial value as a spokesperson and personality is tied to her controlled ownership rights to the use of her voice, likeness, image and performance, the suit reads.

Using AI to modify or repurpose old footage without her participation or permission infringes her right to control how she is represented publicly, Dunn wrote.

The suit names Fred's Appliance, which was founded in 1962 and now has stores in Spokane, Spokane Valley, Coeur d'Alene, Kennewick and four in Montana, along with Liberty Lake-based Victory Media and Dayne Kuhlmann, who is the CEO of Victory Media.

Both Victory Media and Fred's Appliance are represented by attorney Christal Lam, who issued a statement Wednesday saying the companies were limited in what they could say.

"Victory Media has always operated with integrity and has sought to do the right thing for its clients, partners, and the people we work with," the statement from Lam reads. "We acknowledge that we used AI-assisted voice editing to make a limited number of updates to existing advertisements, primarily involving pricing and promotional changes.

"We believed those uses were authorized under our spokesperson agreement and were consistent with our contractual rights," the statement continued. "When questions were raised regarding those edits, we did not attempt to hide them. We proactively disclosed the AI-assisted voice edits, provided a list of the known instances, and immediately entered into discussions with our former spokesperson."

According to the statement, Victory Media and Fred's Appliance offered to compensate George, which they said she did not accept.

"We strongly disagree with allegations suggesting that our former spokesperson was digitally recreated or visually manipulated through AI," the statement read. "Victory Media did not create or publish AI-generated versions of her image or likeness, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against those claims through the legal process."

In the statement, the companies thanked George for her many years of work and noted "it is unfortunate that this dispute could not be resolved without litigation. We believe the facts will demonstrate that Victory Media acted in good faith throughout this process."

Lam issued a statement later Wednesday indicating that the parties could be close to settling the matter out of court.

"This matter involves differing interpretations of the spokesperson agreement," Lam wrote. "We remain hopeful that through continued discussions, the parties can reach a fair resolution."

The face of Fred's

George, 43, is a Spokane native who attended Shadle Park High School and Eastern Washington University. She landed the gig with Fred's in 2012.

"It was wonderful. It was a great working relationship," George said this week. "It was a great experience."

She initially worked with a production company called 7Storms to produce the commercials used by Fred's Appliance to promote their products.

Then a couple years ago, Victory Media took over that role. As part of the new relationship, George signed a contract that covered the scope of her work.

The contract states that "creative assets produced as a result of the Projects ... will be the sole and exclusive property of the Company and Victory Media Promotional content.

"The Company and Victory Media have the right to use, distribute, and display these creative assets without additional compensation for advertising and promotional purposes."

Not long after working with Victory Media, George said she began seeing her photo on advertisements for which she did not participate.

Then without George's knowledge, she saw her face appear on a billboard.

"This doesn't feel right," George said of seeing her photo on the large advertisement. "They could have easily paid me for it, but I had been with Fred's for so long I didn't want to be a complainer."

Then the President's Day sale spot was aired, based on past footage and a computer-generated voice that mimicked George.

"They never once told me what they were doing or asked for my consent." she said.

George then reached out to Kuhlmann, noting that they created an advertisement by using AI without her involvement and that she believed it was a breach of her contract.

"They got back to me a month later and proposed an addendum to my contract," she said. "It was a ridiculous addendum. They wanted to use AI and pay me very little to use it.

"It also showed that they didn't have permission to do this."

The situation prompted George to contact her attorney and end her relationship with Fred's.

In addition to producing the promotions for Fred's Appliance, George also worked for 11 years helping raise money for children with cancer for the Rypien Foundation.

George left that role, she said, to focus on raising her two children.

She now works to produce videos that promote products sold on Amazon and acknowledged she is a big fan of the potential of AI.

"AI is amazing. I personally use it. I had it redesign my bedroom," George said. "But in this case, it was grossly misused.

"There needs to be more transparency," she continued. "Businesses need to have consent and clear policies and be transparent about how they are going to be using it."

Integrity, once lost, can't be recaptured, she said.

"As a performer or actor, having an authentic voice is important," she said. "When they use AI, it diminishes my value as a spokeswoman. I can't monitor or stop what words are coming out of my mouth.

"It's scary," she added. "You don't know what's real or not."

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This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 11:40 PM.