IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
LeBron James and his team are taking action against an AI sports betting app that appeared to use his likeness in an ad.
On Wednesday, an ad for the “Bron” sports betting app went viral on social media for featuring an AI basketball character who wears 23 and looks like LeBron James to promote the app.
Meet Bron: The Tiktok for Sports Betting. https://t.co/SmsqLkaZnw
— Anish (@_anishgupta_) November 4, 2026
Fans immediately joked that the person who made the ad was going to get sued by LeBron.
Bron is about to set a world land speed record in getting sued
— Jay • GoChamp.ai (@heyjayhuffman) November 4, 2026
LeBron did not find the ad funny and immediately sent his lawyers to deal with the issue.
According to Front Office Sports, LeBron’s lawyers issued a “cease and desist” to Bron app for using his likeness.
“LeBron is in no way affiliated with this unauthorized use of his likeness,” a spokesperson for James tells FOS.
The letter, from law firm Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks PC, demands that Bron AI permanently stop using James’s likeness “in any manner and media,” including removing the ad. (The full ad also appears on Bron AI’s Instagram account.) It also says the company must notify every person who has used the app, in writing, that James has no involvement with the company.
James “intends to take any and all steps to enforce his rights as appropriate,” the letter says.
Adam Mendelsohn, James’s longtime media advisor, ripped into the app makers for trying to get cheap clicks off of LeBron’s name.
“I’m sure the intent here was for us to send a cease and desist in order to make it a story,” he says. “You would prefer not to respond but you don’t have a choice in a situation like this. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last. For what it’s worth, these gimmicks never work because people see through it.”
As of Thursday morning, the ad has yet to be taken down by the Bron app creators.