{"id":891800,"date":"2026-06-25T13:02:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/891800\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T13:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:02:18","slug":"peppa-pig-backlash-as-hasbro-asks-child-actors-to-sign-ai-clause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/891800\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Peppa Pig’ Backlash As Hasbro Asks Child Actors To Sign AI Clause"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE<\/strong>: Peppa Pig<\/a> is famed for her love of jumping in muddy puddles, but the company behind the hit children\u2019s TV series has created a different kind of splash with its approach to AI.<\/p>\n

\n\tHasbro<\/a>, the U.S. entertainment giant that acquired the Peppa Pig brand in 2019, is asking child actors on the animated series to sign over their voices to artificial intelligence under new contract terms, Deadline can reveal.<\/p>\n

\n\tIndustry sources said AI clauses are now frequently appearing in kids\u2019 contracts on TV and film projects, but Hasbro\u2019s embrace of the terms on Peppa Pig has become a lightning rod for concern.<\/p>\n

\n\tNearly 1,000 people have signed an open letter<\/a> (copied in full below), organized by the Agents of Young Performers Association<\/a> (AYPA), condemning AI terms on an \u201cinternational children\u2019s franchise.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe open letter does not name Peppa Pig, and the AYPA declined to identify the series, but industry sources told Deadline that it refers to the beloved show.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe letter was also not specific about the clause in question, but theoretically, it could give Hasbro the power to clone a child\u2019s voice and then use the AI-generated audio in Peppa Pig commercial assets.<\/p>\n

\n\tHasbro told Deadline that it was committed to protecting child performers, adding that it wished to approach discussions about artificial intelligence responsibly and transparently.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cConsent Must Be Treated With Care\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tAYPA members are increasingly concerned about children being asked to effectively surrender their voice and image rights. Agents frequently ask the body for advice on AI clauses without naming specific projects.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe AYPA\u2019s open letter said these clauses are often presented as a \u201ctake it or leave it\u201d ultimatum, meaning children can lose out on work if their parents or guardians refuse to agree to the terms.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhere the performer is a child, consent must be treated with the greatest of care. Children cannot provide fully informed legal consent and a parent or guardian\u2019s approval should never be used as a blanket licence to capture, clone, train, or reuse a child\u2019s voice indefinitely,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAny agreement involving a child\u2019s voice should be fully exempt from all AI usage. No child should have their future professional identity shaped by an AI model created before they were old enough to understand its consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt concluded: \u201cWe reject all contracts that require child performers to surrender voice rights indefinitely and without limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Peppa Pig\u2019 Season 11<\/p>\n

\n\tA Hasbro spokesperson said: \u201cHasbro is aware of the open letter circulating regarding AI clauses in children\u2019s performance contracts. We are not able to comment on specific negotiations or contractual arrangements.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe protection of child performers is core to who Hasbro is, it\u2019s part of our DNA. As industry standards around AI continue to evolve, we are committed to engaging with this issue in a responsible and transparent manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCreated by Mark Baker and Neville Astley in 2004, Peppa Pig has become an international phenomenon. Season 11 premiered in the U.S. on Nickelodeon in March, featuring a storyline in which Peppa\u2019s brother George is revealed to be moderately deaf. In the same month, Hasbro installed Adam Redfern, a writer on The Adventures of Paddington, as Peppa Pig\u2018s showrunner.<\/p>\n

\n

AYPA Open Letter On AI Clauses In Kids Contracts:<\/p>\n

To studio executives, producers, casting teams, commissioners, and all those shaping the future of recorded performance.<\/p>\n

We write at a moment when artificial intelligence is already the topic of much dispute, discussion and grave concerns throughout the industry.<\/p>\n

Most recently, a major studio who owns the IP for an international children\u2019s franchise producing a long running animated television series has offered contracts to child voice actors insisting that they agree to the use of AI thus allowing them to use the child\u2019s voice in all commercial assets within their franchise. The refusal to remove this clause with an attitude of \u2018take it or leave it\u2019 has led us write this letter to make it clear that this will not be accepted and to bring this matter to the attention of the wider industry.<\/p>\n

Where the performer is a child, consent must be treated with the greatest of care. Children cannot provide fully informed legal consent and a parent or guardian\u2019s approval should never be used as a blanket licence to capture, clone, train, or reuse a child\u2019s voice indefinitely.<\/p>\n

Any agreement involving a child\u2019s voice should be fully exempt from all AI usage. No child should have their future professional identity shaped by an AI model created before they were old enough to understand its consequences. Their voice should not become a permanent commercial asset before they have the legal and personal capacity to decide for themselves.<\/p>\n

We the undersigned urge you to commit to responsible industry practice. Collectively, we reject all contracts that require child performers to surrender voice rights indefinitely and without limits.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Peppa Pig is famed for her love of jumping in muddy puddles, but the company behind the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":891801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[21],"tags":[361627,691,738,161164,274905,158,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-891800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-agents-of-young-performers-association","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-hasbro","tag-peppa-pig","tag-technology","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116810885743093768","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=891800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/891801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=891800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=891800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}