In his last dramatic role on film, Academy Award winner Robin Williams stars in “Boulevard,” which follows a married but closeted 60 year old bank employee who finds his life upended when he meets and befriends a male hustler.
In reviewing the film, Variety wrote, “Tapping into that same loneliness felt in “One Hour Photo” and “Good Will Hunting,” the actor projects a regret so deep and identifiable, viewers should have no trouble connecting it to whatever is missing in their own lives — whether those regrets are romantic, sexual, professional or spiritual.”
Although the film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival weeks before the actor’s passing last year, it finally hits theaters July 17th.
Clicking on the link takes you to a page where you are required to “Share” the link and also fill out a survey.
Turns out the whole thing was a scam. From Yahoo Tech:
Filling out this survey generates revenue for the scammers, and in the end you won’t see any kind of video for your trouble. The morbidity of listening to a depressed man’s private last words aside, there is no evidence that such a video exists at all.
Nevertheless, it appears the video has already been shared more than 24 million times on Facebook at the time of publishing.
The fake Robin Williams video is just another example of “social engineering,” the technical term for manipulating people into clicking malicious links. Spam like this always accompanies major news items, playing with people’s fear, interest, and morbid curiosity to generate quick cash.
“The scammers have no qualms about exploiting the death of a famous actor and comedian to earn their cash, and give no thought whatsoever to the distressed family he must have left behind,” writes security expert and blogger Graham Cluley, who identified the scam on the We Live Security blog by security company ESET.
However, it appears that one of the final videos Williams shot was for 21 year old Vivian Waller of Auckland, New Zealand, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in January.
Meeting Williams was on her ‘bucket list’ of things to do before dying.
The day the news of Robin Williams death spread throughout the world, closeted Shepard Smith of Fox News spent time discussing the actor’s life and legacy. Smith concluded the segment by contemplating what would lead Williams to end his own life, and in doing so called Williams a “coward.” From the transcript:
“It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? You could love three little things so much, watch them grow, they’re in their mid-20s, and they’re inspiring you, and exciting you, and they fill you up with the kind of joy you could never have known.
“And yet, something inside you is so horrible or you’re such a coward or whatever the reason that you decide that you have to end it. Robin Williams, at 63, did that today.”
After an immediate backlash, Smith spoke to Mediaite about his what his intentions had been, and why he called Robin Williams out as a “coward:”
“I spent an entire hour talking about how much this man affected people’s lives and brought greatness to this world. I was just wondering aloud what could have made this man want to end it all. And it reminds us that we all have responsibility as friends and neighbors to help take responsibility to prevent this from happening. There are people who process suicide as a black-and white-issue. I don’t process anything as black-and-white.
“I was sorry to read online the people who see the world in a black-and-white way, and to suggest that they might have a definitive analysis of why he did such a thing. What I wanted to do is celebrate his life and find some meaning in our own lives, since we often do know someone who is reaching out, and we have a responsibility to help that person — maybe a phone call or a door knock is in order.
“But no matter how you process it: Look at what this family is going through. I would never presume to know anything about his private life. And if any of his family members and friends were to have seen me use the word ‘coward,’ I would be horrified. I would just to apologize to the end of the earth to anyone who might think that I meant to openly call him a coward. To the core of my being, I regret it. It just came out of my mouth. And I’m so sorry. And to anyone and their families who see that, I am sorry.”
“Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between.
“But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien – but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most – from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets.
“The Obama family offers our condolences to Robin’s family, his friends, and everyone who found their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams.” – President Obama, via White House press release.
As the world mourns the loss of Academy Award winner Robin Williams, Fox News anchor Shep Smith decided to vilify the man by calling him a “coward” in committing suicide.
Fox News host Shepard Smith on Tuesday asserted that actor Robin Williams was “such a coward” for allegedly committing suicide. “One of the children he so loved, one of the children grieving tonight,” Smith said. “Because their father killed himself in a fit of depression.” “It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it?” he continued.
“You could love three little things so much, watch them grow, they’re in their mid-20s, and they’re inspiring you, and exciting you, and they fill you up with the kind of joy you could never have known.”
“And yet, something inside you is so horrible or you’re such a coward or whatever the reason that you decide that you have to end it. Robin Williams, at 63, did that today.”
I should note that Shep Smith has been rumored to be a gay man for years but can’t seem to find the “courage” to come out.
