Photo: Victoria Sirakova / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
William Shatner wants fans to know that he is "living long and prospering."
The legendary Star Trek actor blasted a Facebook group that he said has been "using AI to create horrible fake news stories" surrounding his health, including posting fake images of Shatner in a hospital bed.
"They have created stories that say I have Stage 4 brain cancer and that I'm dying," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday (April 2). "All their stories are monetized."
Shatner, 95, assured his fans that despite seeming real, the photos and nasty rumor were anything but.
"Most of the stories use an AI image of me," he wrote. "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."
Even more unsettling, Shatner wrote, is that the rumors made their way to his 64-year-old daughter Lisabeth Shatner and her family.
"My daughter came over to tell me her daughter heard that I had brain cancer," he shared in a separate X post that featured the actor smiling in a patio chair. "She took this photo and sent it to me to upload to prove I'm not ill. The people who are ill are those that are spreading these ridiculous stories. I'm fit as a fiddle. You don't have to worry."
Last year, Shatner took to his Instagram to address rumors about his health following a brief hospital stay.
"I overindulged," he wrote. "I thank you all for caring but I'm perfectly fine. I keep telling you all: don't trust tabloids or AI!"