On March 19th, German actress and television presenter Collien Fernandes announced that she had filed a lawsuit against her husband, Christian Ulmen. She accuses him of having "virtually raped" her by broadcasting sexually explicit "deepfakes" without her knowledge for nearly ten years.

In the public sphere, it all began with a single message, written on a black background, on her social media. "You virtually raped me," wrote German actress and television presenter Collien Fernandes on March 19. The revelation by the 44-year-old, who has nearly 550,000 followers and works for ProSieben, Germany's third most-watched private television channel, sparked outrage in Germany. The message was addressed to her husband, Christian Ulmen, a 50-year-old actor. Known for his roles in several television series, he also appeared in Oskar Roehler's film *The Elementary Particles*, an adaptation of Michel Houellebecq's novel.

But behind the scenes, the story begins ten years ago, when the actor embarked on a long descent into the dark labyrinth of pornographic websites. Perhaps it was there that her husband—a model until then—nurtured his taste for voyeurism and partner swapping? “For years, fake profiles were created in my name. This person sent (fake) nude photos and sex videos of me, which appeared private and were meant to give the impression that I had taken the photos and videos of myself naked during sex,” Collien Fernandes continued in his letter, causing an uproar in his country. The case was quickly compared to that of Gisèle Pelicot, who was raped for years by her husband and other men while she was drugged without her knowledge.

"My body was stolen"

Born in Hamburg to an Indian father and a Hungarian mother, the former model explains: “It usually started with an email conversation (using addresses created in my name). The person would talk to the men on the phone (using a computer-generated voice that mimicked mine), and eventually, it would escalate to phone sex. Sexual encounters would be arranged and then canceled at the last minute. A sexual affair was promised.” Collien Fernandes specifies that discussions sometimes even took place within her professional circle. “People in the industry believed I was behind it all.”

Even more disturbing, a particularly shocking video, also AI-generated, was sent via email, looping with strangers: "This same profile, which was mine, once sent an 'erotic story' by email, in which 21 men were raping me." Accompanying it was a text, written in script form, detailing: "Tears were streaming from Collien's coffee-brown eyes." In her post, she then added: "The story illustrates how much I cry, how scared I am, how much I'm in pain. After the rape, I lie there, motionless and covered in semen on the floor for a while."

Confessions on Christmas Eve

While her public message is only a few days old, the presenter's complaint dates back to 2024. Collien Fernandes explains that she first became aware of the videos of herself about five years ago. At that time, she was alerted that one of them was circulating in a men's group online. She initially decided to speak publicly about her ordeal on social media and in interviews. Although she didn't know the perpetrator, she wanted to denounce online violence, and in particular "deepfakes" (videos created using artificial intelligence), of which women are the primary victims. She explains: "I only became aware of all this a few years ago, thanks to a lunch with a producer who informally mentioned 'our private conversations.' In 2023, I wanted to put an end to it by making the matter public. However, the perpetrator continued." Even while I was filming a documentary on the subject in 2024, the perpetrator continued his actions, until the accounts were banned by certain platforms.” One of the videos was reportedly viewed more than 270,000 times.

For over a year, Collien Fernandes searched for the individual behind her ordeal. In 2024, she decided to file a complaint against an unknown perpetrator so that an investigation could be opened. As she herself explained in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, which interviewed her last December, it was that same year, on Christmas Eve, that her husband—the man she had married fifteen years earlier, the father of their daughter born in 2012—confessed everything to her. “All this time, the abuser was very close. His name: Christian Ulmen,” she explained. Panicked by the prospect of an investigation, he allegedly justified himself by claiming that “since he possessed me, he could make me available to other men for sex. He stole my body for years.” Following these admissions, the actress and public figure, who recently moved to Spain with her family, will file a complaint against her husband in the court of Palma de Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands, reports Le Parisien.

Sexual fetishism

In September 2025, the couple announced their separation, before officially divorcing in March 2026. However, for several weeks, with speculation surrounding the reasons for their breakup becoming increasingly intense, Collien Fernandes decided to set the record straight, speaking out in a lengthy message posted on her social media. Meanwhile, Christian Ulmen remains silent while awaiting trial. The German magazine Der Spiegel, however, briefly contacted him through his law firm. Ulmen, who admitted to having "unfortunately developed a sexual fetish" over the past decade, acknowledged the facts. "He had sent his contacts videos available on freely accessible pornographic websites, featuring subjects who resembled his wife. He describes it as a difficult-to-control impulse, abnormal behavior, and says he regrets what he did," the weekly magazine explained.

In her message, Collien Fernandes, who no longer has contact with her ex-husband, continued: “Humiliation gave him pleasure. It excited him to humiliate me for years,” she wrote. She concluded: “Domestic and sexual violence happens every day, in every home, in every place where we feel safe. Enough is enough.”