William Shatner is alive and well. The veteran actor took the time to debunk fake news circulating about him online, assuring his fans that he is not dying of cancer while shutting down other false claims. Shatner called out the source of the unfounded rumors and warned fans to take stories about him with a grain of salt unless they came directly from him.
William Shatner is not dying of stage 4 brain cancer
On April 2, the “Star Trek” actor took to social media to alert his followers to some false stories circulating online about him. As he noted, he wanted to post on April 1, but was worried his followers would take it as an April Fool’s joke.
“There is a page on @facebook that uses AI to create horrible fake news about me,” Shatner wrote, adding the page he was referring to: Beanstalk Functions. The actor added, “This is the downside of AI and yellow journalism. While it can be a wonderful tool in the right hands, it can be used as a weapon in the wrong hands.”
On X, Shatner wrote: “My daughter came to me and told me her daughter heard I had brain cancer. » He accompanied the message with a photo of himself that his daughter took as proof that he is fine, saying he was “in great shape.”
Some fake news about the actor
My daughter came to tell me that her daughter had heard that I had brain cancer. 🙄 She took this photo and sent it to me to upload to prove that I’m not sick. The sick people are the ones spreading these ridiculous stories. I’m fit as a fiddle. You don’t have to worry. pic.twitter.com/r1uAWHiuwM
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) April 2, 2026
In his post, Shatner included screenshots of news from the Beanstalk Functions page. One article stated that he had “been diagnosed with stage IV glioblastoma.” Another was an AI-generated photo of the actor in a hospital bed, smiling. Another post read: “Erika Kirk insults William Shatner: ‘Sit down you 60 year old rock star.’ »
“None of these stories are true, but they apparently seem authentic enough that fans are reposting them on social media and sending messages of support to me and my family while the culprits behind the account make money,” Shatner wrote.
The Beanstalk Functions profile claims that they are an events company based in Cape Town, South Africa. “We’re here to help you celebrate, innovate and decorate,” it reads.
Facebook page has been deleted
In his post, Shatner said he had alerted Facebook support, but would not remove the page. But a few hours later, the Facebook page was no longer available.
The actor did extensive research and said that the Beanstalk Functions stories were linked to a website hosted on Next.js. He contacted Guillermo Rauch, the CEO of Vercel, which oversees Next.js, asking him to “remove the false published AI stories” created by Beanstalk Functions. However, he was told that “the company sees no reason” to remove them, as he shared on X.
Shatner highlighted Vercel’s terms and conditions, citing sections on fraud, scams and HIPAA violations. “I guess a false story about me having brain cancer doesn’t fall under HIPAA?” the actor wrote.
The actor recently underwent surgery
Although he is not battling cancer, Shatner recently underwent shoulder surgery. As The explosion reported in early March, he had suffered a nasty fall while riding his horse. He explained that his horse had gone too fast, causing it to fly off its back.
Shatner, who performed many of his own stunts during his decades-long career, said he tried to lessen the impact when he fell, but was still injured. “I started to roll, but I hit the ground with my shoulder. So I broke my shoulder,” he explained.
After the surgery, Shatner updated his followers on social media, saying the procedure went well.
William Shatner just celebrated his 95th birthday
At 95, I still smoke! 😝
I learned two things:
Never waste a good cigar.
Never trust someone who tells you that you should “act your age.” 😉👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/POpUEYh3gp— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) March 22, 2026
Shatner shows no signs of slowing down. On March 22, the veteran actor celebrated his 95th birthday by sharing a photo of himself smoking a cigar on social media. “At 95, I still smoke! I’ve learned two things: Never waste a good cigar. Never trust someone who says you should ‘act your age,'” he captioned the post.
Shatner remains active and will participate in the “William Shatner Live on Stage” tour in April. Following the screening of “Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan,” the actor will share anecdotes from his long career and interact with the audience. He is also currently working with some of the biggest names in heavy metal on his upcoming album.
