Master Chief Actor Steve Downes Hits Out at the White House for Use of His Voice in ‘Disgusting and Juvenile’ Social Media Video

Steve Downes, who plays Master Chief in the Halo series, has demanded the White House remove his voice from a social media video he described as “disgusting and juvenile war porn.”

In a video published to the official White House X / Twitter account, now viewed over 63 million times, Master Chief is seen and heard issuing his iconic line, “Finishing this fight.” But Halo is not the only world-famous intellectual property used in the video, which was published last week amid the war in the Middle East alongside the text, “Justice the American way.”

Also included are clips of Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Mel Gibson in Braveheart, Tom Cruise in Top Gun, Keanu Reeves as John Wick, and many more, all saying iconic lines of their own. The movie clips are spliced with war footage showing explosions.

https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/2029741548791853331?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Downes, who has expressed concern about the unauthorized use of his voice in the past, took to X / Twitter to issue a statement confirming the White House did not gain his permission for this new video, and demanding he be removed from it.

“It has come to my attention that there is at least one propaganda video circulating that was either produced or at the very least endorsed by the White House that uses images of Master Chief and uses my voice to support the war in Iran,” he said.

“Let me make this crystal clear: I did not participate in nor was I consulted, nor do I endorse the use of my voice in this video, or the message it conveys.

“I demand that the producers of this disgusting and juvenile war porn remove my voice immediately.”

This is just the latest example of the White House using popular IP for its social media posts. And this isn’t even the first time the Trump administration has used Halo, owned by Microsoft, to promote its actions. In October, Microsoft remained silent after Donald Trump released an AI image of the U.S. president as Master Chief and the Department of Homeland Security used Halo to promote ICE on social media. IGN has asked Microsoft for comment on this latest video.

Last week, the White House posted a video on social media that mixed footage from its bombing operations in Iran with Call of Duty gameplay. IGN has asked Activision for comment, but it has yet to respond.

Also last week, The Pokémon Company issued an official objection after the White House used the recently released spinoff Pokopia for a meme, pushing back against the Trump administration’s repeated use of its intellectual property on social media.

As pointed out by The New York Times, Trump administration spokesperson Abigail Jackson has previously commented to double down on their social media strategy. “Through engaging posts and banger memes, we are successfully communicating the president’s extremely popular agenda,” Jackson said. “There’s a reason so many people try to copy our style — our message resonates.”

In January, Downes said deceptive AI reproductions of his voice “cross a line that gets into an area I am uncomfortable with” — and he called on it to stop. “One of the things that can be overwhelming when it comes to attention from fans is when AI gets involved,” he said. “A lot of it is harmless I suppose, but some of it cannot be harmless. I’ve been very vocal about my feelings about the use of artificial intelligence, which on the one hand is inevitable and has many positive effects on not only show business but humanity in general, but it can also be a detriment. It can also be something that deprives the actor of his work.

“I’ve heard some things online in terms of AI and the reproduction of my voice that sounds like my voice that… like I said, most of the stuff I’ve seen is pretty harmless, but it can be not that way real quick. So, I’m not a proponent. I don’t like it. I would prefer that it not be done.

“There’s a lot of fan-made projects out there that are really cool, that are done just from the heart. But when you get to the AI part and deceiving somebody into thinking, in my case, that these are lines that I actually spoke when they’re not, that’s when we cross a line that gets into an area that I am uncomfortable with. I’ll go on the record with that.”

Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.