Michael Schumacher’s family will file a complaint against the German magazine Die Aktuelle which published a false interview with the legendary German Formula 1 driver, carried out with artificial intelligence, a spokeswoman said Thursday.
The magazine boasted of having obtained an interview with Michael Schumacher, the first since his skiing accident and his serious head trauma at the end of 2013 in the French Alps.
On Wednesday, the gossip magazine owned by the German group Funke published the “interview” and revealed that it had been generated by an artificial intelligence.
The article included quotes attributed to Schumacher and referring to his family life since the accident and his state of health.
The Schumacher family intends to take legal action in connection with this interview, said Sabine Kehm, spokesperson for the Schumacher family, in an email to AFP, confirming information from the American sports television channel ESPN.
The family of Schumacher, 54, jealously protects the privacy of the former champion who has not been seen in public since his accident. Almost no information has filtered since about his state of health.
The most successful champion in the history of Formula 1, with seven crowns, tied with Lewis Hamilton who succeeded him at Mercedes, he had left the hospital six months after his accident and was installed in a medical bed at the villa Swiss from his family in Gland (canton of Vaud).
It was still there at the end of 2021 when a Netflix documentary aired to great fanfare.
“’Private is private,’ as he always said,” said his wife, Corinna Schumacher, in this documentary. “Michael has always protected us and now we are protecting Michael.”
Their 24-year-old son Mick, also an F1 driver, is currently a reserve driver at Mercedes, the team his father ended his career with in October 2012.