Adeath hoax is a deliberate report of someone'sdeath that is later revealed to be untrue.[1][2][3] In some cases, it might be because the person has intentionallyfaked death.
"James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness;the report of my death was an exaggeration."
In the 21st century, death hoaxes aboutcelebrities have been widely perpetuated via theInternet. However, they are not a new phenomenon: in 1945 following the death ofFranklin Roosevelt, there were hoax reports of the deaths ofCharlie Chaplin andFrank Sinatra, among other celebrities of the time.[1][5] Possibly the most famous hoax of this type was the "Paul is dead" rumor, which claimed thatPaul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966 and was replaced by alook-alike.
Hoaxes about the death of a celebrity increase in frequency when genuine celebrity deaths occur, such as whenEd McMahon,Farrah Fawcett,Michael Jackson, andBilly Mays died in rapid succession in June 2009 followed byPatrick Swayze a few months later.[6]Paul Walker's death on 30 November 2013 sparked rumors ofEddie Murphy dying in asnowboarding accident.[7]
Other cases of celebrity death hoaxes fueled bysocial media includeBill Murray,Jon Bon Jovi,Gordon Lightfoot,Shah Rukh Khan[8],Eminem[9],Jerry Springer,[10]Bill Nye,[11] BHMNL starSyuusuke Saito,Joe Rogan,Queen Elizabeth II,William H. Macy,Harry Belafonte,[12][13] andJimmy Fallon.[14]
In August 2018,Michael J. Fox was targeted due to hisParkinson's disease and his age.[15] In June 2023,Jeremy Renner was falsely rumored to have died from his wounds from asnowplow incident in January. Teenage rapperLil Tay and her older brother were falsely reported as dead on 9 August 2023, when herInstagram account was compromised.[16] On 11 September 2023, country music singerToby Keith was incorrectly reported dead because of hisstomach cancer, before his actual death from the disease on 5 February 2024.
In February 2024, Indian model and actressPoonam Pandey staged a fake announcement of her death fromcervical cancer as part of an awareness campaign. The hoax drew widespread criticism for being insensitive and manipulative, but also sparked a national conversation about the preventable disease.
On 8 January 1992,Headline News almost became the victim of a death hoax. A man phoned HLN claiming to be PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush's physician, alleging that Bush had died followingan incident in Tokyo where he vomited and lost consciousness; however, before anchormanDon Harrison was about to report the news, executive producer Roger Bahre, who was off-camera, immediately yelled "No! Stop!"[17] It was discovered that a CNN employee entered the information into a centralized computer, used by both CNN and Headline News teleprompters, and nearly got out on the air before it could be verified. The perpetrator of this hoax was identified as James Edward Smith fromIdaho, who was questioned by theSecret Service and subsequently sent to a medical facility for psychiatric evaluation.[18]
On 18 March 2015, a fake screenshot supposedly from thePMO's website reported the death ofLee Kuan Yew, firstprime minister ofSingapore.[19] Lee was still alive at the time, but died on 23 March 2015 after being hospitalized, age 91. On 8 April 2015, a student who created the fake rumor was issued a warning by theAttorney-General of Singapore, after "careful consideration of all relevant factors".[20]
On 22 November 2022, a fabricated screenshot of aCNN story with the headline "Donald Trump dead at 76" was posted onInstagram andTwitter. This caused posts falsely claiming that Trump had died to circulate on social media. The origin of the hoax was traced to comedianTim Heidecker, who had one day earlier posted a tweet with the joking implication that Trump's death was beingcovered up.[21][22][23]
A hoax letter reporting the death of former US presidentJimmy Carter, age 99 and in hospice care, began circulating on social media on 23 July 2024. The creator of the letter said toReuters that they were exasperated by news media reporting onJoe Biden's health, and had created the letter "to prove that many people onX often spread sensationalist news [without verifying] the source content". The letter contained numerous jokes, such as praising Carter for "selling the United States out to Panama" and referring to his wifeRosalynn as a "baddie" and "the originalBrat". SenatorMike Lee (R-Utah) fell for the letter, offeringthoughts and prayers to Carter's family.[24][25][26] Carterdied on 29 December, age 100.
An opposite phenomenon is death denial rumors: claims that a person is alive, despite official announcements of death (i.e. death certificates, confirmations, etc.).[2] Notable cases areElvis Presley,Andy Kaufman,Tupac Shakur,Prince,Michael Jackson, andXXXTentacion. Another death denial rumor is thatJohn F. Kennedy Jr. faked his death in the1999 plane crash and went into hiding. This conspiracy theory was later spread by theQAnon movement, which also claimed that he would return to public life and beDonald Trump's running mate in the2024 presidential election.[27]
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