Alexa voices will no longer include celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson

Alexa voices Celebrities

The smart gadget will also no longer be able to sound like Melissa McCarthy is speaking to you.

Amazon has announced that it has stopped the sale of celebrity Alexa voices in the form of “personalities” for the device.

The e-commerce giant posted a note on the product pages that used to include celebrities for personalities.

According to Amazon’s note, the celebrity Alexa voices are no longer available for purchase. Melissa McCarthy and Samuel L. Jackson aren’t the only celebrities whose “personalities” are being removed from the availability list. Others that have been removed include Shaquille O’Neal.

Alexa voices - Alexa device
Credit: Photo by depositphotos.com

“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,” reads the note the company posted on the page where the option used to be available for purchase.

Customers who have purchased the celebrity Alexa voices can still access them until September 30.

The options used to be available to the device users for $4.99. It allowed those who purchased the option to be able to address the celebrity by name to access their devices. For example, people who purchased the Melissa McCartney option would say “Hey Melissa,” instead of “Hey Alexa.” Similarly, if they purchased Samuel L. Jackson’s feature, they would address him by saying “Hey Samuel.”

Amazon didn’t state why they made the choice to discontinue the customization feature. That said, according to a Yahoo News article, “After three years, we’re winding down celebrity voices. Customers will be able to continue using these voices for a limited time, and can contact our customer service team for a refund.”

The personalities worked with the majority of the voice-activated Echo devices sold by Amazon, with the exceptions of the Echo and Echo Dot in their first generation. Other products that didn’t support celebrity personalities included the Fire Tablets, Fire TVs and wearable devices.

The Alexa voices were a fun feature available for the gadgets that supported them, but aren’t necessary to their function, as the non-celebrity default personality is still built into those devices.

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