Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries has spoken of her "deep distress" after Thames Valley Police told her that a man had been arrested over 'deepfake' pornographic videos depicting her. The 36-year-old, from Reading, was arrested and had thousands of images and videos seized from his devices after AI-generated content of Dorries, three other female Westminster politicians and several television presenters was circulated widely online. The case underscores growing alarm over AI tools' ability to generate convincing fake sexual imagery of real people, with potential for humiliation or blackmail.

The man, arrested on 4 December 2025 on suspicion of distribution with intent to cause alarm, distress and humiliation, was interviewed and released under investigation. The offence falls under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, as amended by the Online Safety Act that Dorries herself introduced as culture secretary in 2021. The case follows separate legal action by Labour MP Jess Asato against xAI over explicit deepfakes generated by its Grok chatbot, and comes after the Government introduced laws earlier this year banning 'nudification' apps, partly in response to pressure from female Labour MPs following the Peter Mandelson-Jeffrey Epstein revelations.