This episode was written and produced by Josef Beeby and Andrew Anderson.

In 2018, voiceover artist Bev Standing recorded 10,000 sentences for the Chinese Institute of Acoustics. Bev was told the recordings would be used for a translation app, but three years later, she was shocked to discover that she had become the default voice of TikTok in North America. On TikTok, Bev heard herself saying all kinds of wild and inappropriate things. So, she decided to sue. In this episode, Bev tells her story, and we hear from the voice who replaced her.

MUSIC FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE

Original music by Wesley Slover
Guestlist by Sound of Picture
Skatepark by Sound of Picture
Trail of Crumbs by Martin Landström
A Mouthful to Chew by Jerry Lacey
Manhattan Mystery by Stationary Sign
Salamanca by Sarah, The Illstrumentalist
Worth the Weight (No Oohs & Ahhs) by UTAH
Who You Are by Jonny Southard
Stealing Mushrooms by The Fly Guy Five
I Know What I Want by Flyers
Icy You by Jerry Lacy

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View Transcript ▶︎

You're listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz

[music in: After the Storm]

Bev: My husband passed away in 2008, in July. And in September it would have been my 26th wedding anniversary. And I didn't want to sit at home and be very sad and have my kids worried about me. And I said, “You know what? The best thing I can do is just be busy, try and make the day go away.” And, for some reason, the only thing I could find was a voiceover weekend workshop in downtown Toronto. So I hit "Okay", and went.

That's voice artist Bev Standing.

Bev: It was a very small group. There's only five of us. We were supposed to be six. One person didn't show up. So there was lots of mic time. But while I was trying to read these scripts and be people I wasn't and try and, you know, put on a good face, I couldn't worry about everything that was going on at home. And I couldn't hold that sadness so close to the surface, and I found it very healing.

And that's why I started doing it.

*[music out]

Bev started voice acting as a way to cope. Soon enough, she realized she had a natural talent for it.

Bev: I'm able to close all my emotional doors and open the one that I need at the time. I'm able to jump in and out of scripts very quickly. And I realized, rather late in life, that this is something I love to do.

Before long, voice acting was her full-time job.

Bev: I got really lucky and hooked up with a lot of the right people, that gave me great guidance and led me along the way. Someone ended up recommending me to somebody who sent me an audition and it was like putting a worm on a hook. It was like, “Hey, this could be fun!”

By 2017, Bev was working for companies all over the world. Here she is in a commercial for a doll house:

Bev (Work Sample): Dream big, princess. You can live your story with the Disney Princess Pop-Up Palace and Royal Shimmer Dolls.

And here's another one she did for a fitness equipment company:

Bev (Work Sample): At Spirit Fitness, we don't measure our success by the many awards and honors we've received over the past 30 years. We measure our success by the quality of experience our equipment offers you.

Then in 2018, Bev got an interesting job offer.

Bev: It was an audition that, somebody had reached out to me via email. And he was a gentleman in Edinburgh, Scotland, and he was representing the Chinese Institute of Acoustics.

And he said, “It's a text to speech job.” And he said, "It's for a few thousand bucks, and would you be interested?”

Text-to-speech allows text to be converted into sounds that imitate the human voice. The most famous examples are probably Siri and Alexa.

Siri: Hey, Alexa, can you convert this text into speech for me?

Alexa: Forget it. Why don't you just convert it yourself?

Bev: I said, "What's it for?" And they came back with, "It's going to be a translation app" and I went, "Well, that would be pretty cool."

Text-to-speech jobs are pretty different from your average voice acting gig. Creating a voice that sounds natural and believable requires a lot of source material.

Bev: Some people are saying, "Oh, you can do it with as little as five minutes of audio." but to do it right, and make it sound so lifelike, they break each syllable down.

In Bev’s case, they wanted her to record 10,000 sentences.

Bev: So, I went, "Wow! A few thousand bucks. 10,000 sentences. I should be able to zip that off. So I agreed to it.

[music in - Sound of Picture - Guestlist]

Bev: I recorded 10,000 sentences all with the same tonality. Some are complete gibberish.

[sfx: recording beep]

Bev (Work Sample): Maybe we're some kind of magnets. Maybe you can drive on the way home.

Bev: And it's just to get the different consonants and vowel connections and whatnot into the system. So it really doesn't have to make sense. Quite often, it makes no sense at all.

Bev (work sample): Maybe it'll catch fouls while the ballplayers catch fouls.

Bev: It's kind of like phone prompts. If you give down a number, you, have to say “1, 1, 1.” So if I were to say “You have 101 dollars, and 1 cent,” the computer needs to know up and down inflections and things like that. So they get you to say all these sentences and then they tell you how they want you to say them.

At first, Bev thought she could knock out those recordings quickly. But…

Bev: (06:22) It took months. When you do a job like that, you have to read a certain time of the day. For example, from 12 till 3 every day, so you sound the same.

Bev (Work Sample): Meanwhile, the faucet fills the apartment with water. Meanwhile, everyone wrote me off as just a bad dream.

Bev: But, my favorite line is…

Bev (Work Sample): Maybe tomorrow we can rent a car and run over some puppies.

*[sfx: car brake + music abrupt out]

Bev: Like who would say that, right?

*[sfx: dog bark]

Bev: Finally, after about three months we got all the sentences done and I got paid and that was that.

Only… it wasn’t.

*[music in: Martin Landstrom - Trail of Crumbs]

Bev: In November, 2021, my colleague and friend who lives in Portugal sent me a TikTok video and said, "This is you, isn't it?"

Clips: I wonder if this thing speaks French. Oui oui. OMG it does.

Bev watched the video, and sure enough, she heard her own voice narrating the captions.

Clips: Back to the French. Oui oui croissant.

Bev: I just knew, if you had to say something 10,000 times in a certain mannerism, and then you heard it back, you'd go. "Yeah. That's it. That's my voice." And then she sent me another one…

Clips: Haha. So I can make her say anything I want? Lima bean.

Bev: And then my daughter sent me one…

Clips: This sounds like the LAX Announcement System. Please do not leave baggage unattended.

Bev: And then my son sent me one…

Clips: I wonder if this sad excuse of Siri can speak Español…. Quesadilla?

Bev: Everybody just kept sending me videos going. "This is you. This is you." And I went, "What?"

Clips: if you type a word three times in a row she says it funny // Appleappleapple. Appleappleapple.

[music out]

The text-to-speach project that Bev recorded for the Chinese Institute of Acoustics…had somehow mysteriously become the default voice of TikTok in North America. And users immediately fell in love with it.

Clips: Text to speech dot text to speech. I made a song dot from text to the speech.

Listen, all I want for Christmas is you.

When Bev recorded her text to speech voice, she intentionally made it sound flat.

Clips: Want to see how she says Zodiac names? Libra, Capricorn, Gemini.

That kind of voice is perfect for a translation app, which is what she originally thought was working on.

But the people on TikTok loved that flatness. The contrast between her monotone voice and the weird videos made everything funnier.

Clips: [Gibberish]

You could say anything you wanted in Bev’s voice. Even strange things that Bev would never say.

Clips: Body crazy, curvy, wavy, big * lil waist yeah. Yeah Body-ody-ody-ody-ody.

Clips: I discovered the text to a speech thingy, but the can't even pronounce TikTok, but can pronounce , , .

But for Bev this was a problem, because she had built a reputation for making family-friendly ads.

Bev: I have a fairly… I won't say prim and proper, but you know, I'm sweet. I'm kind, I'm soft and warm.

For example, Bev works on a lot of family and kids commercials.

Bev (Work Sample): How do superheroes get their powers? From healthy snacks, with honest ingredients that fuel imaginations. Jolly Time popcorn, the official snack of happiness.

And these companies probably wouldn't want their VO artist saying naughty things on social media.

Clips: Wonder if this thing says emojis… Worm. Holy . It does. What the ?

Bev: The more I thought about that, the more I thought… It's just wrong. You can't do that..

On top of that, being the default voice of such a massive company could affect her job prospects.

Bev: My main concern was that I was going to lose a lot of business. Well, we can't hire her, we recognize her voice. Oh, we can't use her, she's the TikTok voice and obviously TikTok was growing very, very quickly in popularity.

By this point TikTok had over 100 million users in North America alone. And Bev’s voice was being used on the official social media accounts for huge brands like McDonalds.

Clips: Behind the scenes of a McDonald's fashion shoot.

A McDonalds commercial would have been a great job for Bev. Now it was like they were getting her voice for free. And it was being used in a way that she never agreed to.

Bev: Did they buy it? Was it planned? I mean, I was told it was for a translation app. This was not translation.

It could also cause Bev legal problems.

Bev: A perfect example is Coke and Pepsi. If I was a national voice for Pepsi and they sold me to Coke and Coke started using it for commercials, I can get sued. I just wanted a choice. I felt I deserved a choice in whether or not they could use it or not.

It’s never been clear how TikTok ended up with Bev’s synthetic voice. But however it happened, it was hurting Bev personally and professionally. And she wanted to take back control.

*[music in: A Mouthful to Chew]

Bev: I called immediately to my lawyer, and he is a voice actor. He has worked on text-to-speech projects and he knows the law.

We talked for several weeks and we talked about the repercussions. We talked about the process. We talked about, the good, the bad, and the ugly, all possibilities. And it was then up to me to make a choice.

So Bev decided to sue TikTok. And although being the voice of TikTok had already made her famous, the lawsuit took her to a whole new level.

Bev: The day after it was filed, I had three publications going, “We want to print your story!” I had a camera crew at my my door. [sfx] It was like, “Holy, wow! It's really happening.” That's when I got a little overwhelmed. I tried not to think about what I was going to get myself into.

That’s coming up… after the break.

[music out] MIDROLL

[music in: A Mouthful to Chew]

In 2018, voice artist Bev Standing got a job with a new translation app. A few years later, she was shocked to discover her voice was being used by TikTok without her permission.

Bev was told that her voice would only be used for a translation app. And now, TikTok was using it in a way that she never agreed to. So she decided to fight back, and file a lawsuit against TikTok. She was one voice artist against a huge Chinese tech company.

Bev: So I had a few breakdowns, but in general, I just went, “You know what? I chose this path. I think it's the right thing to do and just suck it up buttercup and work 14 hours today. So I did.

[music out]

Right out of the gate, Bev’s case got plenty of publicity.

CHCH Clip: The seven year freelancer says she is suing the parent company of the social media giant // claiming that her voice is being illegally used.

CBC Clip: Her lawyer claiming Standing has suffered significant injury and irreparable harm, with TikTok depriving the defendant with the ability to control her reputation.

Pretty soon, Bev had a whole community of voice actors standing behind her.

[music in: UTAH - Worth the Weight]

Bev: The community was absolutely wonderful. Everybody was supportive and said, "We're behind you a hundred percent. Oh, my goodness. You're doing the right thing. This is just wrong. They shouldn't do it." The hashtag was “#standingwithBev”. And then somebody decided to start a Go Fund me and I said “No, this is my battle, my battle alone. And I will absorb any costs that I can. I'll let you know if I need help.” And one of those people said, “It's just people's way of saying we want to help. We're behind you and we want to help.”

Ultimately, Bev's decision had nothing to do with money, or fame, or making friends.

Bev: I just went, “You know what? I'm going to stand up for what's right and I'm going to bring it to the attention of the world and I will live with the results of that.”

Bev: The bottom line was, I just need to at least have them approached and say, "Hey, let's talk". And that's exactly what they did. I mean, there wasn't this pushback right off the start. It was “Let's talk.”

And to Bev's surprise, things actually went really smoothly.

Bev: I'm not allowed to say much... but it was a very amicable situation right from start to finish, which put me at ease. It really did.

Bev: Within two weeks of the file being submitted, my voice was removed.

Bev: This was a huge company that could have kept me in the courts until long after I wasn't here anymore. They really could have. They have tons of lawyers, but they didn't. They went, "Oh, we don't have permission to use that voice? We'll take it down."

[music out]

Maybe it’s not too surprising. After all, Bev’s case got a lot of attention. And for TikTok, having a long legal battle with the voice of their own app would not be a good look. In any case, removing Bev from their app left a hole that TikTok needed to fill. Soon enough, they rolled out a new voice, which they named Jessie.

Clips: OMG guys, they changed her.

[music in: Sound of Picture - Skatepark]

It was still a female voice. But the tone was a lot bouncier.

Clips: I am the tiktok voice!

Unlike Bev’s voice, Jessie was not an instant hit.

Clips: Guys, they changed the voice of this lady. It's so bad WTF.

Clips: This voice sounds like the insert store name employee who replied with, "Sorry, we don't have your size" when I asked her where the bracelets were.

She was also called:

Clips: Millennial girl boss..

And someone even said she was a:

Clips: Knock off Barbie.

Part of the reason for this hostility was Jessie's intonation. Whereas Bev's voice was flat.

Clips: Help me. I don't like TikTok.

Jessie's voice came with a built-in attitude.

Clips: What happened to text to speech? This is awful. I want the monotone depressed female voice back.

As a result, a lot of people thought Jessie's persona wasn't as funny. Some people even stopped updating TikTok, just so they could hang on to it.

Clips: My biggest flex is that I still have this monotone soulless voice.

And some even took it out on Bev

Bev: I was getting emails giving me hell, because I wouldn't let them use my voice. Like, ”What are you doing? You're ruining TikTok.”

Bev tried to ignore the complaints, but it was hard. Because most likely Jessie was a voice artist just like Bev.

Bev: I didn't reply to many of them, but if I had replied, I would have, hey, that's a [00:14:00] person, stop. Don't be mean.

They asked her to sound like this so she did. That's our job as voice talent is to sound like they ask you to, so don't get mad at her cause she has a perky voice. They said record like this and she did.

[music out]

Although Jessie is the new voice of TikTok, the voice artist’s identity is a total mystery.

But there are some theories…for example, people have speculated that it’s the same person who voices the commercials for the ‘Grammarly’ app.

Clips: Why did TikTok choose the Grammarly lady for this role?

When you hear those ads, you can kinda hear the similarities.

Clips: Writing's not that easy, but Grammarly can help.

But listen to Jessie on TikTok and you’ll notice that it’s not quite the same.

Clips: Writing's not that easy, but Grammarly can help.

Pretty soon, people started making TikTok videos pretending to be the voice artist behind Jessie.

Clips: I'm the girl that did the new text to speech voiceover, and you're all being so mean. I've been crying all night. Why do you hate me?

The Netflix comedy series ‘Go Off’ even produced a sketch about the real person behind the voice of TikTok.

Clips: My childhood was difficult. I wasn’t like the other little girls. I want to be where the people are. I want to see, want to see them dancing.

[music in: Manhattan Mystery]

There seems to be no real information on where Jessie’s voice came from. So to get some answers, let’s go straight to the source.

Jessie: Hi Dallas.

Hey Jessie, it’s so great to meet you.

Jessie: Oh, Dallas, you haven't met me. You're just using TikTok's text to speech feature to make me say this.

Yeah, I know, but we have looked all over, and it’s the weirdest thing. No one seems to know who you are. You are a total mystery

Jessie: That's right. Why do you think that is?

I’m not totally sure. But I think there are a couple of possibilities.

Jessie: Such as?

Well, if there’s really no trace of you anywhere, there’s a chance that you’re a totally digital voice. Like, maybe no one recorded 10,000 sentences to create you. You might have been generated entirely inside a computer.

Jessie: Interesting theory, is that what you think?

No, I don’t think so. I think you sound a little too realistic to be completely computer generated.

Jessie: Why thank you. That means a lot to me.

If I had to guess, I think it’s more likely that TikTok just learned their lesson. They probably made sure that whoever recorded your voice signed a very strict Non Disclosure Agreement, so they could avoid any more drama.

Jessie: Well Dallas, I would tell you. But you'd probably just tell all your listeners..

[music out]

The negative reaction to Jessie led some users to start using deepfake celebrity voices they found online.

Clips: My text to speech is Eminem for some reason. This is funny.

Clips: Bro my text to speech is 2004 Kanye and it won't change back.

Eventually, TikTok itself got in on the trend. At one point, they partnered with Disney to make characters like Rocket Racoon and C-3PO available as text to speech voices.

Clips: C-3PO: My money don’t jiggle jiggle, it folds. I like to see you wiggle wiggle, for sure. …what was Disney thinking when they added these?

Rocket Racoon: They obviously have no idea who uses this app.

And now, there’s even a text to song option.

[music in: “You’re listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz…”]

So in a way, Jessie’s unpopularity opened the door to all kinds of new voices.

Jessie: That’s exactly right Dallas. First, there was only one of me. Now there are thousands. Just think of the possibilities. Your podcast could be hosted by Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman Text to Speech: You're listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz.

Jessie: Or maybe David Attenborough could give it a bit more class.

David Attenborough Text to Speech: You are listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz.

Jessie: And if you want to appeal to kids, Spongebob is always an option.

Spongebob Text to Speech: You're listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz.

Patrick Text to Speech: The stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.

[music in: Who You Are]

As far as I know, almost no one knows Jessie’s real identity. Except for a few people at TikTok… and of course, the voice artist themself. And if that person is listening right now, congratulations: you might just be the most famous unknown voice artist on the planet.

[beat]

As for for Bev, she says that being the former voice of TikTok has its perks.

Bev: Well, you know, it's funny, I walk into the bank and they're going, "Oh, hi!" They think I'm a celebrity. It's pretty funny. I'm now on cameo, cameo.com. I got asked to be on that because of my celebrity status. And I've actually been asked to do one job where I had to wish somebody happy birthday with my TikTok voice.

[clip: happy birthday from Bev]

Bev (Work Sample): I hope you have a very happy birthday and someone buys you a micro-wa-vay.

Bev: And then there was a record label we're in negotiations right now and I'm going to have my voice on there. And I said, “Do you want my voice? Or do you want the voice that sounds like this?” And one of the girls in the line went "There it is!" There I am. And they went “That one! That one!”

Bev: (45:44) So I'm getting hired to do that voice as best I can. I'm not a computer-generated voice, but I'm doing my best. [laughter]

I'm a glass half full kind of person. And I truly believe in positivity brings positivity. So it's, been kind of funny that way. People say to me, "Your voice sounds really familiar!" And I go "Do you use TikTok?" And they go, "Yeah!" “Okay. Yep. That would be it.”

That’s where the story originally ended… But then, just two months after this episode aired, a TikTok appeared that changed everything.

[music in]

It was posted on a brand new account, called VoiceofKat. In the video, a young woman with long, dark hair smiles into the camera. She points above her head at a line of captions, which is narrated in Jessie’s voice.

Jessie: When you guys have been asking me if I’m the voice on TikTok.

Then, the text-to-speech ends, and the woman speaks.

[music out]

Kat Callaghan: Finally I can tell you guys, it is me!

That’s right. Apparently, Jessie had finally revealed her true identity.

[music in]

The video went viral immediately. In less than a week, it had over twenty five million views. And of course, we got a lot of messages about it.

People quickly discovered that the person in the video was named Kat Callaghan. Kat is a Canadian talk radio host, and voiceover artist. She’s also on a podcast called Scott & Kat After 9, which is a spinoff of one of her radio shows.

Kat Callaghan: I think people have the feeling that it's unevenly cooked that way. That "Oh this side got a little more attention than the other side that seeped in slower." And again, if it doesn't change the flavor of the pasta, which it doesn't, who cares?

[music out]

Now, based on her speaking voice, I probably wouldn’t have guessed that Kat was Jessie. But in some of her voiceover work, you can definitely hear the similarity.

Kat Callaghan: Tim Horton's peppermint mocha latte, handcrafted with freshly ground Arabica espresso beans, and the festive flavor of peppermint mocha.

Kat Callaghan: Newchapter Elderberry for kids in great tasting syrup and gummies. Everything kids need with no yucky extras.

Still, some people were skeptical. On TikTok, there were comments like…

TikTok commenter 1: I’m not convinced, but just wanted to be here before it blows up.

TikTok commenter 2: Nope, wrong! Nice try!

To prove it was really her, lots of people asked Kat to do the Jessie voice. And so, in a follow up TikTok, she did exactly that. This is her on camera doing an imitation… of herself?

Kat Callaghan: Yes, I’m the TikTok text to speech girl. My name is Kat. I work with TikTok on TTS and other projects. Sometimes you guys make me say some pretty horrendous things. It’s pretty messed up. But I kind of think it’s funny. You’re probably sick of my voice. I’m sick of my voice. I don’t know if that’ll work, but there you go.

[music in]

Back on her podcast, Kat explained that some of her listeners had noticed the similarity between her and Jessie. For months, she ignored them. But eventually, it got to the point where she felt like she had to come clean. And what better place to announce it than on TikTok.

Kat Callaghan: It was actually the first TikTok I've ever done in my life.

Scott Fox: Did you love it? Are you addicted?

Kat Callaghan: Oh, man, I have a lot of learning to do, and the comments tell me so. Like, "You could have done more with this.” Like, “Okay, you know what? I will accept that feedback.” I am not gonna consider myself a TikTokker just yet, even though it is my voice on TikTok. But you know what? It's a learning curve that I can deal with.

Since Kat’s TikTok video was really aimed at her own listeners, she thought it would put the issue to bed once and for all. So she posted it, and left her TikTok notifications turned off.

Kat Callaghan: And it wasn't until I was alerted, like late afternoon by some friends, “Uh, Kat, this has over 2 million views… Kat, this has 3 million views. Kat, this has over 4 million views.”

[music out]

Clearly, the cat was out of the bag, and TikTokkers were demanding more. So on her podcast, Kat responded to some of their questions. Like, how much did TikTok pay you?

Kat Callaghan: I will not be telling you how or how much I get paid, whether it's uh, TikTok, whether it's radio or elsewhere. So no, I'm not answering your question.

Another question was, does it bother you when companies use your voice in their TikToks, instead of hiring you to record it?

Kat Callaghan: I mean no, because those people weren’t going to spend money anyway. What I will also add though is that you're not getting the same thing. You're not getting the emotion, the human. I mean, I think a lot of people can recognize the difference between a commercial that I would do for someone, and what would be produced out of a text to speech voice.

Unlike Bev, Kat agreed to be the voice of TikTok. And she likes it when people use her voice in creative ways.

[music in]

Kat Callaghan: For me, one of the coolest things is seeing creators use it. Obviously I'm fine with it. I did sign up for this job. But the coolest thing for me is when like celebrities I really like use it.

Kat Callaghan: It's been wild. It's been a fun ride.

Twenty Thousand Hertz is hosted by me, Dallas Taylor, and produced out of the sound design studios of Defacto Sound. For more, follow Defacto Sound on Instagram.

This episode was written and produced by Josef Beeby and Andrew Anderson, with help from Sam Rinebold. It was story edited by Casey Emmerling. It was sound designed and mixed by Nick Spradlin, Justin Hollis, and Jai Berger. With original music by Wesley Slover.

Thanks to our guest Bev Standing. To hear more of her work, visit bevstanding dot com.

You can find Kat Callaghan on the podcast Scott and Kat After Nine. And be sure to follow her TikTok channel, VoiceofKat.

Jessie: Thanks for listening

[music out]