Tilly Norwood creator receives death threat before Zoom interview

Moments before joining a Zoom call, Eline Van der Velden, the creator of the controversial “AI actress” Tilly Norwood, received a death threat and called the police to file a report. “They say there’s no humanity behind it, and then they go after the human behind it.

It’s interesting to me,” she shrugged, noting that public criticism from figures such as Emily Blunt, Sophie Turner and Whoopi Goldberg has contrasted with more positive, private industry conversations: “Directors have reached out. They want to work with Tilly.” Tilly was unveiled in July 2025 via the comedy sketch “AI Commissioner,” produced by Van der Velden’s company Particle6.

The U.K. response was relatively relaxed, the creator says, while a September presentation at the Zurich Film Festival prompted strong condemnations from SAG-AFTRA, talent agency Gersh and a number of actors. Van der Velden compared the reaction to the reception of CGI influencer Lil Miquela, who signed with CAA as a digital creator rather than an actor.

United Kingdom, Zurich

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