William Shatner has criticised a number of fake social media posts that have claimed he is dead.
The Star Trek icon, 95, who cemented his name playing Captain James T Kirk on the hit sci-fi show, called out a Facebook page for ‘profiting off of his likeness’ with AI-generated photos and news stories.
Shatner addressed the ‘Beanstalk Functions Group’ page on Instagram and X on Thursday, saying it had made up ‘horrible fake news stories’ including one about him dying.
‘I wanted to put this out yesterday but given the day and the possibility that it would look like a joke I waited for today,’ Shatner said, referring to April Fools’ Day.
‘There is a page on Facebook that is using AI to create horrible fake news stories about me… They have created stories that say I have stage 4 brain cancer, was in some kind of fight with Erika Kirk and that I’m dying. All their stories are monetized. Most of the stories use an AI image of me.’
The 95-year-old said that he had reported the page to Facebook, but the platform was yet to remove it.
He also shared that he got in contact with the group’s apparent CEO asking him to remove the stories himself.
The AI-generated posts included fake stories about him ‘fighting cancer’ while lying in a hospital bed and being insulted by Charlie Kirk’s widow
He added: ‘None of these stories are true but they apparently seem genuine enough for fans to repost them across social media and send messages of support to me and my family all while the culprits behind the account make money.
‘This is the downside of AI and yellow journalism. While can be a wonderful tool in the right hands; it can be used as a weapon in the wrong hands.’
‘If you see a bizarre story about me; unless you see it posted on one of my verified accounts take it with a grain of salt.’
The actor also explained that ‘you would be surprised how many of my “fans” believed the images are of me.’
A spokesperson for Meta has since confirmed to People that the Facebook page was removed for violating its policies.
This comes after Shatner was rushed to hospital towards the end of last year after suffering ‘a medical emergency’.
The 95-year-old was admitted to hospital after an issue involving his blood sugar, sources revealed.
However, he reassured fans that he had only ‘overindulged’, writing on Instagram: ‘Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.’
‘I overindulged. I thank you all for caring but I’m perfectly fine.’
The Canadian actor has had a career spanning seven decades, but is best known for his portrayal of Kirk in the Star Trek franchise.
He made his debut as the captain of the starship Enterprise in the second pilot of the first Star Trek television series in 1966, with his last appearance in the movie Star Trek Generations in 1994.
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