A Facebook page run out of South Africa just spent two weeks telling the world William Shatner was dying of brain cancer.
The page made money doing it – and Facebook refused to take it down until Shatner went public and shamed them into it.
Then he posted a photo of himself in a patio chair, smiling, and told the internet exactly what he thought of them.
How William Shatner Got Facebook to Remove the Fake Brain Cancer Page
The page called itself "The Beanstalk Functions Group" – allegedly a South African event planner – and it ran a full operation targeting the 95-year-old Star Trek icon.
AI-generated images of Shatner lying in a hospital bed.
Fake news stories claiming he had stage IV glioblastoma, an aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer.
A fabricated confrontation with Erika Kirk.
All of it monetized.
Shatner found out the way he finds out most things now – through his family.
"My daughter came over to tell me her daughter heard that I had brain cancer," he wrote on X.
He posted a photo his daughter took of him sitting outside, looking perfectly fine.
"The people who are ill are those that are spreading these ridiculous stories," he wrote. "I'm fit as a fiddle. You don't have to worry."
https://twitter.com/WilliamShatner/status/2039757062444638296?s=20
Then he named the page publicly and tagged Facebook, the CEO of Next.js – which was hosting the fake stories – and kept pushing until something happened.
Facebook had told him initially they would not remove the page.
After 130,000 people read Shatner's post, Meta's communications manager finally responded – with a Star Trek pun.
"Our apologies for not moving at warp 7 or faster, Mr. Shatner. The page is now down."
William Shatner Health Update: What AI Fake News Actually Did to His Family
Fans who saw the AI-generated stories – persuasive enough that people reposted them widely – sent condolences to Shatner's family.
His own granddaughter believed it.
Real people grieving for a man who was sitting at home fine, while strangers in South Africa collected ad money from their pain.
And Facebook – the platform your parents use every single day to stay connected to family, to follow their grandchildren, to keep up with the news – looked at that page and said it did not violate their policies.
William Shatner had to fight that battle himself.
At 95 years old, after surviving stage 4 melanoma, after riding a horse competitively until one threw him and shattered his shoulder last year, after setting the record as the oldest person to fly to space when Jeff Bezos launched him 66 miles above Earth in 2021 – he had to go online and personally pressure a Silicon Valley CEO to take down AI slander about his own death.
William Shatner Last Meal Reveal After the Brain Cancer Hoax
Two weeks after he shut down the cancer hoax, Fox News resurfaced a 2019 interview where Shatner was asked to name his last meal.
He could not pick just one.
He told the podcast Your Last Meal with Rachel Belle that he is "a real sushi aficionado" who loves the simplicity and complexity of Japanese cuisine.
https://twitter.com/newstart_2024/status/2042359277579374838?s=20
Then he said he has been thinking about mole – the traditional Mexican sauce built from chiles, spices, and chocolate.
"Mexican cuisine is taking its rightful stage in the world," he said. "A sophisticated Mexican cuisine is really good and healthy."
He also talked about avocado toast and had strong opinions about the bread-to-avocado texture ratio, which is exactly the energy of a man who has nothing left to prove to anyone.
He turned 95 last month and posted a cigar photo with the caption: "Never trust anyone who says you should act your age."
That is Captain Kirk.
Sources:
- Deirdre Bardolf, "William Shatner, 95, torn between two cuisines for his last meal," Fox News, April 14, 2026.
- "William Shatner slams AI fake news claiming he's dying," Fox News, April 3, 2026.
- "William Shatner turns 95 and gives blunt life advice," Fox News, March 2026.
- "William Shatner sets record in space with Blue Origin spaceflight," CBS News, October 13, 2021.
- "William Shatner Gets Facebook to Remove AI-Misinformation Account," Bleeding Cool, April 4, 2026.