Robin Williams’ daughter quits social media, citing harassment
The daughter of the late actor Robin Williams is taking a break from social media after she says she was hounded by “cruel and unnecessary” comments from the public on her profiles.
Zelda Williams posted the message early Wednesday on her Instagram account, saying some were “mining” her family’s social media account for photographs of her father, and judging her on a number of them.
Williams was found dead by his personal assistant Monday inside his Tiburon home. Authorities said it appeared the cause of death was “asphyxia due to hanging,” although toxicology reports for a final report will take weeks.
“I will be leaving this account for a bit while I heal and decide if I’ll be deleting it or not,” she wrote. “In this difficult time, please try to be respectful of ... myself, my family and my friends.”
She also took to Twitter to say her “goodbyes” to social media.
“I’m sorry,” she tweeted. “I should’ve risen above. Deleting this from my devices for a good long time, maybe forever. Time will tell. Goodbye.”
The messages came just hours after she posted a tribute on her Tumblr to her father, who she described as “one of the kindest, most generous, gentlest souls.”
But messages posted by two Twitter users shook Zelda Williams, who tweeted: “Please report @PimpStory @MrGoosebuster. I’m shaking. I can’t. Please. Twitter requires a link and I won’t open it. Don’t either. Please.”
Soon after, she deleted the tweet. But Twitter suspended the users’ accounts.
Twitter users later berated the users, calling for a permanent ban.
Meredith Webb tweeted “@PimpStory and @MrGoosebuster should be banned from Twitter for life. There’s no grey area in regards to what the did to @zeldawilliams #scum.”
For breaking news in Los Angeles and throughout California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA. She can be reached at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.
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