Chuck Norris's family has asked fans not to believe or share AI-generated images and videos that spread online after the actor's death, PetaPixel reports, citing The Hollywood Reporter. Norris, the martial arts champion who starred in Missing in Action and Walker, Texas Ranger, died in Hawaii on 19 March at 86, and fake images of him began spreading widely in the weeks that followed.
In a statement on his official Instagram account, the family said AI-made posts were spreading false claims about how he died, his medical history, family relationships and who was with him, and asked people to trust only what comes from the family or its representative. It did not single out particular fakes, but images of an invented funeral went round, showing Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson gathered around a casket.
PetaPixel sets the case among other public figures pushing back on AI fakes: Tom Hanks warned about a deepfake ad, and Scarlett Johansson took legal action against an app that used her name and likeness in an advert. California passed two laws in 2024 protecting performers from unauthorised AI replicas of their likeness or voice.
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