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Meta Disables Its New AI Image Generator After SAG-AFTRA & CAA Trash Tool

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Just days after Meta introduced its Muse Image AI generator, the Mark Zuckerberg-run company has done a complete U-turn.

Under pressure from a now-victory-lap-taking CAA and SAG-AFTRA, the tech giant late Friday revealed that the Instagram-trolling Muse Image is essential DOA.

“Earlier this week, we announced that one way for people to generate images in Meta AI is by @-mentioning public Instagram accounts that they want to reference,” Meta said in an IG post Friday. “Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way. We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available.”

Meta added, “We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available.”

A quick scan of Instagram shows that Meta has, in fact, disabled Muse.

At its core, a Muse user just needed to tag a public or unprotected IG feed, and it instantly becomes meat for the AI generator to create its own images or “remixes,” as they are sometimes called, after which the images are available online permanently.

Friday’s announcement comes after CAA called for Meta to implement guardrails for Muse, despite the agency rolling out its own AI Vault program to archive its members’ likenesses forever. “No one’s name, image, likeness, voice, or creative work should be used by any third party, including AI models, without clear, documented consent,” the uber-agency said Wednesday.

In a statement on Friday, CAA said: “We commend Meta for its swift decision to remove the Muse Image feature. Putting individual rights and consent at the forefront is essential to building responsible technology. We look forward to ongoing conversations to ensure creators stay protected as technology evolves.”

The actors union echoed CAA’s concerns about what appears to be a case of Big Tech overreach. In a statement issued Friday, SAG-AFTRA said: “With the dangers of nonconsensual digital replicas well known to all, a feature that encouraged that behavior is unwise.  We appreciate its discontinuance.  It is the responsible thing to do.”

The use of AI in Hollywood continues to be a hot-button topic in recent years. SAG-AFTRA has endorsed the Trump administration’s AI policy framework, which calls for Congress to enact legislation that includes parental controls, intellectual property rights protection, First Amendment protections, expanding AI workforce development, allowing data centers to generate their own power and removing legal barriers that limit AI innovation.

Last month, Trump signed an executive order for voluntary framework in which AI companies would provide the government with access to new models for a 30-day review period before their release.

Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.

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Randolph Mantooth Dead: ‘Emergency!’ Star Who Appeared On Soap Operas Was 80

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Randolph Mantooth, who starred as a Los Angeles paramedic on the NBC series Emergency! along with turns on soap operas including As the World Turns, One Life to Live and The City, has died. He was 80.

His family told our sister site The Hollywood Reporter that Mantooth died July 9 in hospice in Ventura, CA, after a long illness.

Born on September 19, 1945, in Sacramento, Mantooth began his screen career in the early 1970s, guesting on episodes of such popular series as The Virginian, McCloud, Adam-12, Marcus Welby, M.D. and Rod Serling’s Night Gallery. His big break came when he was cast as LAFD paramedic John Gage in Emergency, which was executive produced by Jack Webb and played like a fire department take on Dragnet.

Debuting as a midseason replacement show in January 1972, Emergency! was shot in a near-documentary style and followed the adventures — and mundane downtime firehouse banter — of Squad 51. Each week, Mantooth’s Gage, partner Roy De Soto (Kevin Tighe) and their firefighter colleagues would answer calls both routine and calamitous. Viewers knew it was one of the latter when an extended alarm would sound at the station. The cast also featured Robert Fuller, Julie London and Bobby Troup.

Running for five seasons into September 1977, the hourlong drama with comic elements never was a ratings hit, only denting the year-end primetime Top 30 once in the three-network universe. But it was solid counterprogramming against its 8 p.m. Saturday competition of CBS’ All in the Family and later that Norman Lear classic’s spinoff The Jeffersons.

During its run, rock band The Tubes named-checked Mantooth in the song “What Do You Want From Life?” from its 1975 debut LP. In it, singer Fee Waybill was rattling off a list of things the listening is “entitled to” as an American citizen. Among them was “a personally autographed picture of
Randy Mantooth.”

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Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Son Travis Make Karlovy Vary Family Affair

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Kevin BaconKyra Sedgwick and son Travis turned Karlovy Vary into a family celebration on Friday night.

The family of creatives presented Family Movie at the 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival to a jam-packed house of people who were clearly excited to go beyond the usual six degrees of Kevin Bacon and fam. Missing on stage was Travis’ sister Sosie Bacon.

“We are so excited to share this movie with you, and it’s a dream come true to be here,” Sedgwick said after a big ovation for the big names.

“It is our first time in the Czech Republic, and we’re having a blast,” shared Kevin Bacon. “As you will see in the film, we made it with our son Travis, who acts in the movie and also … composed the music, and our daughter Sosie, who is unfortunately not here today.” To a sigh of relief from the crowd, he added: “She’s fine. She’s working.”

The family then had a surprise for the Czech crowd, with Bacon setting it up with the words: “We’re going to give this a shot.” What followed was Sedgwick and Bacon each saying something in Czech to the delight of the crowd, which applauded and cheered. “We hope that you love the film the same way we love our family,” was the key message shared by an interpreter.

All three family members wrapped up the excursion into Czech with a loud “thank you” in the local language — followed by another rousing round of applause and cheers.

Family Movie is a family horror-comedy, co-directed by Bacon and Sedgwick and starring them and their children, that had its world premiere at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival. “A filmmaking family finds themselves in a real-life horror movie when a body turns up on the set of their low-budget slasher, forcing them to cover up the murder to keep filming,” reads a synopsis.

This year’s double anniversary edition of KVIFF has brought a parade of stars to the picturesque spa town, including Jesse Eisenberg (The Social NetworkA Real Pain), Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction, Westworld), Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, Three Colors: BlueIn-I in Motion), Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Bride!The Lost Daughter), Harvey Keitel (Mean StreetsReservoir Dogs), legendary cinematographer Robert Richardson and Dustin Hoffman (The GraduateRain Man).

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Meta Removes AI Muse Image Feature After Backlash

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Days after rolling out its Muse Image AI feature on social media, Meta has heard the overwhelming backlash from users.

On Friday, the tech behemoth announced that the feature is “no longer available” on Instagram, admitting they “missed the mark” amid privacy concerns and the automatic opt-in for users.

“Earlier this week, we announced that one way for people to generate images in Meta AI is by @-mentioning public Instagram accounts that they want to reference,” the company said in an update. “Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way.

Meta added, “We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available.”

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