Amazon Is Making an AI-Animated Good Advice Cupcake TV Show. Its Original Creator Is Furious
Amazon and BuzzFeed plan an AI-made Cupcake series, and creator Loryn Brantz says she never consented. BuzzFeed says it owns the IP and can develop it anyway.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
BuzzFeed licensed Loryn Brantz’s Good Advice Cupcake character to Amazon for a new AI-assisted animated series, Cupcake & Friends. Brantz says the move ignores her wishes and amounts to a betrayal of the character she created.
A cartoon cupcake named Cuppy was made by an artist named Loryn Brantz. Now BuzzFeed and Amazon want to make a new TV show with that character, and they say AI will help make it.
Brantz is angry because she says she was not really included and would not have agreed to AI being used this way. She thinks the character should not be turned into something she does not control.
It is a bit like if someone drew a kid’s favorite toy, then later changed the toy’s story without asking the person who made it. The fight is about who gets to decide what happens next.
Analysis
What happened
WIRED reports that Amazon’s Prime Video plans to release Cupcake & Friends, an animated series based on Loryn Brantz’s Good Advice Cupcake character from BuzzFeed. The project is one of three shows supported by the GenAI Creators’ Fund, a joint effort from Amazon Web Services and Amazon MGM Studios.
Brantz says she is furious because she believes BuzzFeed and Amazon moved ahead without her consent and against the spirit of earlier promises from the company. She says the character was created long before today’s AI boom and that she would not have agreed to future versions made with generative AI tools.
The dispute
BuzzFeed says it owns the Cuppy IP and is free to develop it. A spokesperson told WIRED that the company wants to revive a dormant series and work with new creative teams. Jonah Peretti, now president of BuzzFeed AI and former CEO, said the company tried to reassure Brantz that humans would remain central to the work, with AI used as a tool in production rather than a replacement for people.
Brantz rejects that framing. She says BuzzFeed was vague about how AI would be used, and claims she was only offered more details if she signed a nondisclosure agreement. She also says other creatives had been approached to write scripts.
Why this is a flashpoint
The story is not just about one cartoon cupcake. It captures a broader conflict in entertainment: companies want to monetize old characters with cheaper, faster AI workflows, while original creators fear losing control over the meaning and future of their work. Brantz’s public criticism, and her willingness to consider legal options, signals that these disputes are likely to keep growing as media firms bring back older IP with generative tools.
Key points
- Amazon and BuzzFeed are developing Cupcake & Friends, based on Brantz’s Good Advice Cupcake character.
- The project is tied to Amazon’s GenAI Creators’ Fund and is described as AI-assisted.
- Brantz says she was not consulted in good faith and calls the move a betrayal of her creative wishes.
- BuzzFeed says it owns the Cuppy IP and can develop it with new technology and new creators.
- The case highlights growing conflict over AI, copyright, and control of older media characters.
