George Carlin’s Daughter Speaks Out Against New AI Comedy Special Featuring Her Father’s Likeness

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:James Devaney/WireImage; Emma McIntyre/Getty

James Devaney/WireImage; Emma McIntyre/Getty

George Carlin’sdaughter wants to remind everyone that her father is irreplaceable.

The newAI-generated comedy special, “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead!,” was released on Tuesday, depicting George Carlin posthumously with the voice of podcast hostDudesy. The late comedian’s daughter, Kelly Carlin, spoke out against the special, claiming it disrespects her dad’s true talent.

“My statement regarding the AI generated George Carlin special: My dad spent a lifetime perfecting his craft from his very human life, brain and imagination. No machine will ever replace his genius,”she wrote on X(formerly Twitter) on Wednesday. “These AI generated products are clever attempts at trying to recreate a mind that will never exist again. Let’s let the artist’s work speak for itself.”

It continued: “Humans are so afraid of the void that we can’t let what has fallen into it stay there. Here’s an idea, how about we give some actual living human comedians a listen to? But if you want to listen to the genuine George Carlin, he has 14 specials that you can find anywhere.”

Slaven Vlasic/Getty

Dudesy addressed his impersonation of Carlin, who died nearly 16 years ago from heart failure at the age of 71, at the start of the YouTube special.

“I just want to let you know very clearly that what you’re about to hear is not George Carlin,” he began. “It’s my impersonation of George Carlin that I developed in the exact same way a human impressionist would. I listened to all of George Carlin’s material and did my best to imitate his voice, cadence and attitude as well as the subject matter I think would have interested him today. So think of it like Andy Kaufman impersonating Elvis or like Will Ferrell impersonating George W. Bush.”

Throughout the show, “Carlin” joked about coming back to life, saying new material took so long because he was dead — which he joked was “a pretty good excuse.”

Dudesy’s Carlin mentions heavier topics, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade, gun violence and LGBT rights, but also makes light of many social and political issues, ironically poking fun at the dangers AI could potentially play on his career.

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The special concludes with a joke about what Carlin has learned from being dead — a topic he continuously brings up throughout the show.

“I can tell you I’ve already learned one thing that I know is right: living is really dying, and dying is really living.”

At the end, Dudesy reminds viewers that the voice was not actually Carlin, but rather an “impersonation” of him.

source: people.com