US President Donald Trump shared an artificial intelligence (AI) video of himself wrestling a tiger after posting footage of a fatal attack at England’s Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
William Chapman, 23, died after entering the tiger enclosure at the park near Doncaster on Saturday.
In a statement published by South Yorkshire Police on Wednesday, his family said circulating media was causing them severe distress. Relatives asked people to stop sharing the material and respect their privacy.
“We ask people to stop doing this,” the family said. Their appeal addressed the circulation of media generally and did not name Trump or any other account.
British broadcaster Piers Morgan directly criticised the president’s AI video on Wednesday. Writing on X, Morgan called it “appallingly tasteless” and asked Trump to delete it.
Trump posted the real attack footage on Truth Social on Tuesday. His accompanying caption read: “Don’t ever mess with nature! President DJT.” The clip showed the tiger attacking Chapman but did not depict his death.
Read: Iran Hardliners Back Threat to Strike Gulf Data Centres
Hours later, Trump shared the computer-generated video. It shows a digital likeness of the president chasing and tackling a tiger before the pair embrace.
Chapman’s family described relatives as devastated by the loss and struggling to come to terms with what happened.
They asked people not to approach their homes or collect more material from Chapman’s social media accounts or his relatives’.
Relatives expressed hope that authorities would establish why Chapman entered the enclosure. They asked the public to respect the coroner’s process. An inquest is due to open at Doncaster Coroner’s Court on Thursday morning.
(With additional input from Forbes, TheWrap and The Guardian)
