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Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta was slammed on social media after he posted a clip of his “interview” with an artificially animated avatar of deceased teenager Joaquin Oliver to promote a gun control message on Monday.
Working with the gun control group Change the Ref, founded by Oliver’s parents, Acosta had a conversation on his Substack with an avatar created by the father of the son, who was killed in the Parkland high school shooting in 2018. Oliver would have turned 25 on Monday.
Social media users were shocked by Acosta’s “grotesque” interview and slammed the journalist for using the deceased teen’s avatar for political content.
“You’re interviewing an AI recreation of a person who was murdered by a spree killer?” one Bluesky user questioned. “Wow. It’s hard to accept that no one around you suggested that this was probably in the worst possible taste.”
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Jim Acosta interviews Manuel Oliver, the father of deceased teen Joacquin Oliver, on his Substack show on Aug. 4, 2025. (The Jim Acosta Show / Substack)
Another Bluesky user slammed Acosta for promoting the conversation as a “one-of-a-kind interview” with Oliver, but instead spoke with the deceased teen’s computer-generated avatar.
“‘I’ll have a one-of-a-kind interview with Joaquin Oliver’ no you won’t, you’re talking to a glorified answering machine message you dingbat,” the user asserted.
Other users on the liberal social media site were also critical of Acosta calling the conversation with the teen’s avatar an “interview,” with one user labeling the conversation a “grotesque puppet show.”
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“You don’t have an interview. You’re facilitating a grotesque puppet show, using grieving parent’s heartbreak for a bit,” the Bluesky user stated. “The bar is in hell, and you still managed to trip on it.”
On X, Acosta disabled users that weren’t followed by him from commenting on his posts, which some users on the social media site linked to the backlash he was receiving from the “interview” with Oliver.
Stephen L. Miller, a conservative political commentator, noted Acosta’s decision to block his posts from comments, and slammed the journalist for his “ghoulish act of talking to AI ghosts.”
Daily Wire reporter Ryan Saavedra also weighed in on Acosta’s “interview,” noting on X that the journalist’s post seemed to have “crossed the line for everyone” on Bluesky.
Conservative outlet Townhall called out Acosta’s “DISTURBING” conversation with Oliver’s avatar and stated that the “interview” raises “HUGE” ethical questions about journalism.
The Federalist’s Sean Davis called Acosta’s “interview” with the teen’s avatar “demonic” and criticized the journalist for conversing with “scripted AI chatbot holograms of dead people.”
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Acosta replied to Reason’s Robby Soave, who had called the interview “insane and evil,” by noting again he’d been approached by Oliver’s father. The liberal journalist left CNN in January and moved to Substack, where he’s continued to give progressive commentary and provide a friendly outlet for liberal guests.
Fox News’ David Rutz contributed to this report.
