Fiancé of American influencer who died on gorgeous Zanzibar vacation releases TROVE of their final texts and pictures to clear his name

By WILL POTTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 16:44, 18 June 2026 | Updated: 16:51, 18 June 2026 The fiancé of a glamorous influencer who died on a romantic vacation in Zanzibar shared a trove of their final texts in an attempt to clear his name amid mounting questions over her passing.  Joe McCann, 45, released an extensive interview on a website named 'I Cannot Tell You' this week, detailing his turbulent two-year relationship with influencer Ashlee Janae, real name Ashly Robinson, 31. Robinson was found dead in her hotel room on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar on April 7, devastating her fans and leaving numerous questions over what caused the tragedy.  In the weeks before her death was ruled a suicide by the Zanzibar Police Force, speculation from Robinson's own family fell on McCann, who vehemently denied any wrongdoing.  'The hate, vitriol and lies told by so many in service of the lie that I somehow had anything to do with her death have made the grief that much more difficult to comprehend,' he said in his new interview.  McCann, a crypto investor and CEO of asset management fund Asymmetric, was interviewed by police and his travel documentation was temporarily withheld, but he was never formally accused of any crime and he returned to the US.  While McCann insisted he and Robinson were in separate rooms that night following an argument, Robinson's family implied that they believed McCann had something to do with her death, calling for security footage 'just to say his story is true.'  In his extensive rebuttal, McCann said he found Robinson's parents' claims that she would never commit suicide 'utterly confusing', saying she had often threatened to do so and suffered mental health problems for years.  'The devastating reality was that Ashly, who was a truly wonderful but tortured soul, did suffer from visibly evident and significant mental health problems,' he said.   Influencer Ashlee Janae, real name Ashly Robinson, 31, tragically took her own life on a romantic vacation with her fiancé to Zanzibar on April 7 Robinson's fiancé Joe McCann faced scrutiny after her death amid insinuations he had something to do with it, leading him to release a huge trove of their messages and details of her final days to clear his name  McCann shared his expansive interview, headed by TMZ reporter Charlie Neff, in an attempt to clear his name from social media speculation that he was involved in Robinson's death.  Asked directly what he says to implications he killed his partner, McCann replied: 'Any insinuation that I had anything to do with Ashly’s death is categorically false, defamatory, and malicious.'  McCann said when his relationship with Robinson began in September 2024, they fell madly in love with each other and were 'inseparable.'  In his huge trove of messages released this week, McCann showed Robinson's texts to her best friend during their first date, where she responded to a question about how it was going with, 'We're getting married.'  But McCann said their relationship soon grew turbulent and chaotic, marked by Robinson's aggressive mood swings and emotional outbursts that he says appeared out of the blue.  He shared images of her 'outbursts' this week, including moments where she flung his clothes across the street and 'walked into traffic' during a panic attack.  In his huge trove of messages released this week, McCann showed Robinson's texts to her best friend during their first date, where she responded to a question about how it was going with, 'We're getting married' McCann said their relationship soon grew turbulent and chaotic, marked by Robinson's aggressive mood swings and emotional outbursts that he says appeared out of the blue He shared images of her 'outbursts' this week, including moments where she flung his clothes across the street and 'walked into traffic' during a panic attack Robinson's online persona, Ashlee Janae, had over 150,000 followers on Instagram, but McCann said her real life personality was nothing like the calculated influencer she was on social media.  While they shared a public 'engagement' on their trip to Zanzibar, McCann revealed he had actually proposed to her weeks before, but she consulted ChatGPT to find the 'most optimal way' of announcing the news to her legion of fans.  ChatGPT, he said, ruled 'almost all aspects of her life', and he now says she even consulted the AI chat bot before taking her own life on the same vacation.   McCann said the trip took a tragic turn when Robinson had an emotional breakdown, as she was devastated from being told by a doctor weeks before that she may never be able to have children.  He said she had been 'erratic' for weeks, including chain smoking cigarettes despite never previously smoking, drinking a bottle of wine as soon as she woke up, and having 'public outbursts.'  He said this disturbing behavior culminated in an attempted suicide the day before she died, where she claimed to try to overdose on his medication.  McCann shared this intimate picture from the moment he proposed to Robinson in private - weeks before her carefully curated social media 'proposal' they did for the camera  McCann said Robinson pretended to get engaged on their trip to Zanzibar to go 'viral' on social media (seen in her Instagram post), but they had actually gotten engaged in private weeks before  Robinson's online persona, Ashlee Janae, had over 150,000 followers on Instagram, but McCann said her real life personality was nothing like the calculated influencer she was on social media  McCann also shared messages between himself and Robinson's mother Yolanda from that night, showing he told her he was checking her vital signs overnight and preparing to head home from their vacation early.  The messages also included him telling Yolanda that her daughter shared with him that she had 'prior suicide attempts when she was a teenager.'   In an Instagram post sharing his side of the story, McCann then included a clip of Yolanda in a local TV interview after Robinson's death, where she implied it was not a suicide and claimed not to know of any mental health problems.  Contrary to what the texts appeared to show, she said in the clip: 'She's never done anything that would ever, ever lead me to believe that she would do something to harm herself.'  The day that Robinson took her own life, McCann said they had a heated argument on the beach, which led him to call off their engagement after what he says was repeated prodding to do so. He said Robinson reacted with fury, smashing their room and telling him, 'I hope I choke and die in here tonight.'  Robinson's family claimed they had no reason to think she would ever take her own life, but McCann shared messages with her mother Yolanda where he detailed her 'prior suicide attempts when she was a teenager'  McCann said despite their tumultuous moments, he and Robinson were madly in love with each other and were 'inseparable' McCann said he ended up getting a separate villa to get away from her, but soon after Yolanda messaged him that her daughter was texting her 'terrible things, and won't answer the phone.' In texts shared to the I Cannot Tell You site, McCann showed Robinson then began texting him disturbing messaged 'stating her clear intent to take her life.'  These texts included telling him to 'remember me as someone who cared', and 'Don't let anyone I didn't like carry my casket... No attempt this time. Goodbye Joe.' McCann said he tried desperately to get hold of Robinson after receiving the disturbing messages, before he eventually broke into her villa when she wouldn't respond and found her.  According to Zanzibar authorities, Robinson was found unconscious in her villa that night. Her cause of death was ruled as cerebral hypoxia caused by strangulation and suffocation.  On the night she died, Robinson sent McCann a number of disturbing messages, including telling him, 'Don't let anyone I didn't like carry my casket' McCann said his relationship with Robinson became turbulent and chaotic, marked by Robinson's aggressive mood swings and emotional outbursts that he says appeared out of the blue In the weeks after Robinson was found dead, scrutiny fell on McCann, with Robinson's own family implying in the media that they believed he may have been involved.  In his recent interview, McCann insisted: 'I would never harm any woman in any way, and that includes Ashly. Absolutely not, NEVER, and in fact, her family knew this.' 'I regret that I couldn’t alleviate Ashly’s deep mental anguish and pain sooner,' he said.    'She shared numerous deeply disturbing things with me in the weeks and days leading up to her death, and she spiraled quickly during that time. I wish I could have brought her over from the darkness into the light.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. 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