Zelda Williams has seen the viral video of a comic impersonating her late father, and she has kindly asked people to stop sending it to her.
The 32-year-old daughter of legendary comedian Robin Williams explained why she doesn't want to see the video after a fan asked her about it Thursday. The clip titled "ROBIN Test Footage Scene" of comedian Jamie Costa playing her father in the "Mork & Mindy" era in 1982 has been viewed more than 4 million times in four days.
The video shows Williams being devastated when his “Mork & Mindy” co-star Pam Dawber (played by Sarah Murphree in the clip) tells him his good friend and "Saturday Night Live" star John Belushi has died, just a day after Williams had been out partying with him.
Zelda Williams, who is an actor herself, first commented on the video on Tuesday when she noted that she had seen it.
"Guys, I’m only saying this because I don’t think it’ll stop until I acknowledge it… please, stop sending me the ‘test footage,'" she tweeted. "I’ve seen it. Jamie is SUPER talented, this isn’t against him, but y’all spamming me an impression of my late Dad on one of his saddest days is weird."
On Thursday, Williams responded to a fan who tweeted, "Maybe it’s not meant to be cruel or rude. Or promote sadness. A lot of us regular people loved your Dad, for many, many, reasons. If that clip stops one person from doing drugs, I say it’s a win/win. Love and light to you."
"I said nothing about cruel or rude," Williams tweeted back. "The clip made me uncomfy so I was asking kindly for folks to stop sending it to me over and over. Your love for Dad doesn’t mean I have to tolerate being bombarded in silence, and being projected upon can be pretty exhausting some days."
Zelda Williams is one of three children of the late comic, who died by suicide in 2014 while suffering from Lewy body dementia. She has previously shared why many public remembrances of her father can be difficult for her.
She spoke out last year ahead of the sixth anniversary of her father's death about why she wouldn't be online at a time many fans were remembering him.
“It’s hard for me on regular, good days to remain the person expected to graciously accept the world’s need to share their memories of him and express their condolences for his loss,” she wrote.