Image: Ben Patterson/Foundry
If you paid extra for the privilege of making Alexa sound like a celebrity, bad news: The option is going away, and it’s not clear if you’ll get your money back.
As The Verge reports, notices have appeared on the Alexa celebrity voice pages for Samuel L. Jackson, Melissa McCarthy, and Shaquille O’Neal warning that the voice skills are no longer available for purchase.
What’s more, the notices say that those who did purchase the McCarthy and O’Neal voices will only be able to use them until September 30, while the option to use the Samuel L. Jackson voice expired back in April.
Here’s the full text on the Alexa celebrity voice page for Melissa McCarthy:
Melissa McCarthy’s Alexa voice is no longer available for purchase. Customers who previously purchased the experience may continue to use the skill until Sept 30, 2023 by saying “Hey Melissa”.
It’s not clear if users who bought the celebrity voice skills will get refunds once the voices are pulled from Alexa. We’ve reached out to Amazon for more details.
A secondary note on each Alexa celebrity voice page reads: “Please reach out to customer service if you have any questions about this update,” so it’s possible you could get a refund if you ask for one.
Each Alexa celebrity voice costs $4.99, although Samuel L. Jackson’s voice initially cost just 99 cents.
Alexa celebrity voices debuted back in 2019, starting with Jackson’s voice. At first, you had to say “Alexa, ask Samuel” to make Alexa answer queries using Samuel L. Jackson’s voice, but by 2020, you could simply say “Hey Samuel.”
When using a celebrity voice, Alexa can tell jokes, tell you the weather, and acknowledge the performance of basic tasks (“OK’), among other things. Shopping, lists, reminders, and skills were not supported, however.
Besides celebrity voices, Alexa finally added the option for a male voice in 2021.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers smart speakers, soundbars, and other smart and home-theater devices. You can follow Ben on Twitter.
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Amazon yanks Alexa's paid celebrity voices, no word on refunds - TechHive
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