The family of William Chapman, the 23-year-old killed by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, have appealed for people to stop sharing footage of the events leading up to his death, and have condemned what they called "deeply offensive media content" filmed in his final moments.
Mr Chapman died after entering a tiger enclosure on Saturday, October 10, and was pronounced dead at the scene. In a statement read on Good Morning Britain, his family paid tribute to a son they described as "bright, warm and engaging". They urged members of the public to refrain from sharing footage online as investigations into the tragedy continue, The Mirror reports.
Trump's AI video
Speaking about the family's plea on Good Morning Britain, ITV correspondent Katy Rickitt said: "A video emerged from William's own social media platform yesterday of him entering the tiger enclosure, and his account was shut down."
"More distressing, and we're not showing any of these videos out of respect for the family, are videos of actually what happened. The tiger pawing and mouthing at him before the attack. That has been shared by no other than the President of the United States on his own socials."
US President Donald Trump's AI video, which was shared to his Truth Social platform and depicts himself in the enclosure running around with the tiger, was referenced.
Family's plea
"That must be extremely distressing for the family, who have asked people not to share these videos," she said. "They've asked for the process to happen here; we know that there's a health and safety investigation in the park, which is yet to open."
Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which has remained closed since the incident, confirmed that the tiger would not be euthanised following the attack. "Everything that emerges here just points to a very sad, a very tragic and deeply distressing situation," Katy concluded.
William's family confirmed that he had suffered from 'significant mental illness' and was taking strong medication. However, they detailed that it will be up to the coroner to decide what part this played in his death.
"We would ask everybody to respect that process," they said in a statement. "The family are utterly devastated by their loss and are struggling to come to terms with what has happened."
"The publication and circulation of deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress at an exceptionally vulnerable time. We ask people to stop doing this."
The family added: "The family are hopeful that the relevant authorities will do their utmost to get to the bottom of why our amazing son did what he did. In the meantime, please do not approach the family, their addresses, or scrape any further social media from William's or his family's accounts."
