Who is Calum Worthy and what is the 2Wai app controversy? All about the former Disney star amid online backlash

Canadian actor Calum Worthy's tech startup 2Wai, which was launched in June this year, is currently under fire over their latest venture.

Based in Los Angeles, 2Wai launched its social app to create AI-interactive avatars on the App Store on Tuesday, November 11. Dubbed 'HoloAvatars', by the company, 2Wai's latest feature enables users to interact with a virtual AI-powered replica of their deceased loved ones. 

According to the tech site, the HoloAvatar is a "digital twin", one that "looks and talks like you, and even shares the same memories".

Calum Worthy shared the promotional video for HoloAvatar's latest function on X, featuring a pregnant woman speaking to her mother's AI recreation on the phone. The woman tells her mother's replica how Charlie, the baby, is growing bigger and "kicking like crazy". The replica advises the woman to put her hands on her belly and hum to the child.

What if the loved ones we've lost could be part of our future? pic.twitter.com/oFBGekVo1R

— Calum Worthy (@CalumWorthy) November 11, 2025

The clip then cuts to another conversation between the two when Charlie is 10 months old. The woman asks her mother's AI imitation to tell Charlie a bedtime story. The next interaction takes place between Charlie, now 10, directly speaking to his dead grandmother's replica on a futuristic cellphone. They chat about school and a crush Charlie has on someone.

The next sequence shows a 30-year-old Charlie speaking to the same virtual replica of his grandmother, whom he never met in person, but has been speaking to since he was born.

The adult Charlie shows his grandmother an ultrasound photocopy, sharing the news of his approaching fatherhood. His AI grandma goes on to share the old advice of keeping hands on the belly and humming to the baby as she advised her daughter to do when she was pregnant with Charlie.

Calum Worthy, starring as Charlie, then tells his grandmother with a somewhat sombre expression:

"You would have loved this moment."

The grandmother replies:

"You can call anytime."

A quick throwback in time provides the context as to how the grandmother's AI simulation was created. While grandma was still alive, Charlie's mother filmed a three-minute video using the 2Wai app, capturing her goofy activities to create an AI-powered imitation. The video ends with the message:

"With 2Wai, three minutes can last forever."

Latest HoloAvatar feature on Calum Worthy's 2Wai app critiqued online

Despite the attempt to portray the emotional aspect of interaction between an individual and their deceased loved ones, the general public is displeased with 2Wai's HoloAvatar.

Many found the intent unthoughtful and shallow. Critics pointed out such technology can negatively affect and distort one's perception of grief, diminishing the humane pain one feels when they lose a dear someone. 2Wai is further criticized for trying to destroy human's ability to deal with death, a natural and inevitable part of life.

The advancement of such technologies further raises questions about the fine line between reality and AI.

"Demonic, dishonest, and dehumanizing. If I die and you put words in my mouth I will curse you for all eternity. My value dies with me. I’m not a f*cking avatar", wrote an X user.

"Death and Loss is a normal part of life You're creating dependent and lobotomized adults by doing this Actually vile", voiced another.

"Oh goody, another way for people to completely lose touch with reality and avoid the normal process of grief", said one individual.

Many called Calum Worthy vile for trying to commercialize grief and real human emotions.

"Preying on grief and loss— especially as a commercial endeavor— is deeply, intensely and immensely f*cked up", commented one person.

"Nothing says compassion like turning someone’s grief into a business opportunity", mocked another.

Several netizens likened Calum Worthy's 2Wai and its HoloAvatars to the 2013 Black Mirror episode, Be Right Back.

The episode featurs a grieving woman resorting to bring back her dead lover in the form of an artificial replica. She ultimately transfers the artificial imitation into a synthetic body to create an android version of her dead boyfriend, thus giving it a physical manifestation.

Calum Worthy announced the beta version of the 2Wai app is now live on Apple's App Store and would soon be available on Android.

Calum Worthy rose to to stardom through his role as Dez Wade on Disney's Austin & Ally. His previous acting role as Danny Snider on the 2003 slapstick comedy film Thanksgiving Family Reunion won him a Young Artist Award.

Another one of Calum's memorable role includes playing Nick Godejohn on the 2019 Hulu series, The Act, a dramatized retelling of the murder of Dee Dee Blanchard.