The filmmaker and daughter of the beloved comedian has made her feelings abundantly clear in an impassioned series of Instagram stories. She did not mince words, sharing that she has no desire whatsoever to witness these digital imitations of her dad.
For Zelda, the trend is nothing less than an insult to her father’s legacy. She wrote openly, pleading, “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.”
The frustration in her message was as clear as day. She warned anyone trolling her that she would simply restrict them and move on, adding, “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.”
Zelda expressed her heartbreak at seeing her father’s remarkable career trivialized and repackaged as superficial content. Watching artistic legacies whittled down to mere soundalikes leaves her deeply unsettled. She likened the entire process to forcing “overprocessed hotdogs” made from real people’s lives and art onto unsuspecting audiences.
Growing Frustration Over AI Clones
This is far from the first time Zelda has pushed back. In the midst of last year’s labor disputes in Hollywood, she stressed how disturbing she finds these AI recreations, especially when used without consent. She made it clear her objections were not just personal, but also about the larger ethical concerns for living artists.
Zelda emphasized the difference between genuine performance and algorithm-driven replicas. “Living actors deserve a chance to create characters with their choices, to voice cartoons, to put their HUMAN effort and time into the pursuit of performance,” she explained.
The director pointed out that these machine-made imitations often fail to capture any of the substance that made her father a singular performer. At best, she called them “a poor facsimile,” and at worst, a grotesque creation from the most cynical aspects of the entertainment industry.
She also dismissed the notion that recreating the past through digital means represents progress, pushing back against claims that this is “the future.” In her words, AI is “just badly recycling and regurgitating the past to be re-consumed.”
Zelda’s candid response serves as a rallying cry for respect and decency not only for her family, but for all who value artistry and memory in an age of quick digital fixes.
