Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda issues apology to fans over ‘triggering’ post about his death
Zelda Williams has apologised to her dad’s fans in case they were ‘triggered’ by old his Instagram account being repurposed by she and her siblings, Zak and Cody.
The 37-year-old actress and daughter of the late Robin Williams, who died in 2014 aged 63, took to social media to explain the decision on Monday (17 August).
It came after she and her brothers, Zak, 43, and Cody, 34, posted on the actor’s old Instagram account under the handle @therobinwilliams.
The trio explained that they would be using it as a ‘safe, trusted place where the stories, photos, videos, and memories shared reflect his legacy with authenticity, warmth, and care’.
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Their full statement read: “As we recognize what would be our Dad's 75th year, we're grateful to see new generations discovering his work while longtime fans continue to celebrate the joy he brought into their lives.
“As technology evolves, we want this to be a safe, trusted place where the stories, photos, videos, and memories shared reflect his legacy with authenticity, warmth, and care.”
The siblings continued: “This is our way of sharing his unique talent and humor with the world, including the moments that made us and so many of you laugh, as we remember our Dad’s extraordinary life and work.
“He continues to inspire us and delight people all over the world. Zak, Zelda, and Cody Williams.”
Taking to her own account afterwards, Zelda acknowledged that seeing his account active again might be upsetting for some people.
She wrote on her Instagram Story: “I’m sorry if anyone found dad’s page posting again to be triggering. Believe me, I know it’s a little strange.
“But making that space into one where people can find authentic clips and photos of him is one of the best ways we’ve now found to fight back against rampant AI abuse of his voice and likeness on here. Might be a drop in the bucket, but we’re trying.”
She added: “Sending you all a big hug on this random Monday.”
It comes after last October, Zelda begged people to stop making videos of her late father using artificial intelligence.
Taking to her Instagram Story, she pleaded: "Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad.
"Stop believing I wanna see it or that I'll understand, I don't and I won't. If you're just trying to troll me, I've seen way worse, I'll restrict and move on.”
She urged: "But please, if you've got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop. It's dumb, it's a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it's NOT what he'd want."
It came amid a disturbing social media trend that saw people animate images of people who have died, with captions like ‘bring your loved ones back to life’.
Zelda continued: “To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to ‘this vaguely looks and sounds like them so that’s enough’, just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening.
“You’re not making art, you’re making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings, out of the history of art and music, and then shoving them down someone else’s throat hoping they’ll give you a little thumbs up and like it. Gross.”
The actress added: “And for the love of EVERYTHING, stop calling it ‘the future,’ AI is just badly recycling and regurgitating the past to be re-consumed.
“You are taking in the Human Centipede of content, and from the very very end of the line, all while the folks at the front laugh and laugh, consume and consume.”
Topics: Artificial intelligence, Social Media, Entertainment, Celebrity, US News, News
Madison Burgess