William Shatner Sets the Record Straight on Cancer Rumors and the Alleged Erika Kirk Feud

William Shatner had to hop online and swat down some truly wild rumors this week. No, he does not have Stage 4 brain cancer. No, he is not feuding with Erika Kirk. And yes, he waited until after April Fools Day to say something so it wouldn't look like a joke.

Where this nonsense started

On Thursday, April 2, the 95-year-old Star Trek legend posted from his official accounts to call out a Facebook page pumping out AI- fueled junk about him. He says the page was cranking out fake stories with AI images, slapping ads on them, and letting people run with it. Because of course it was monetized.

• What the fake page claimed: that Shatner had Stage 4 brain cancer, that he was in some kind of fight with Erika Kirk, and that he was on his deathbed.

Shatner says he reported the page and even tried to contact the page's CEO to get it taken down. That wording is odd, sure, but the point is he says he chased the people behind it and got nowhere with Facebook Support, which he says wouldn't remove it. Meanwhile, the bogus posts were realistic enough that fans started sharing them and sending his family worried messages.

"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. There is a page on Facebook that is using AI to create horrible fake news stories about me."

His warning about AI fakery

Shatner spelled it out: AI can be great, but in the wrong hands it turns into a rumor machine that's almost impossible to corral. His advice was simple — if you see a bizarre story about him and it didn't come from one of his verified accounts, take it with a grain of salt.

The 'proof of life' post

To really put the rumors to bed, he dropped a fresh photo on Instagram on Thursday — smiling, looking fine — after his daughter told him her daughter had heard he had brain cancer at school. His caption basically said the sick ones are the people spreading this stuff, and that he's fit as a fiddle. Translation: he's not ill, and he's over it.

The fake page and its tactics

The scam page — which Shatner identified as The Beanstalk Functions Group — used AI-generated images of him in hospital beds and a breathless caption claiming he had "shared a hauntingly raw photo from a hospital bed, ending weeks of frantic speculation." That's not an update; that's clickbait cosplay. The good news: that Facebook page has since been removed.

Bottom line: if you want the real story on Shatner, stick to his verified accounts. Everything else, especially if it comes with an AI-glossed hospital pic, deserves a hard pass.