35 Celebrity Death Hoaxes That You May Have Fallen For
Hearing that your favorite celebrity has passed away is always sad, but maybe it was actually a hoax.
The internet is a crazy place, and the unfortunate thing about it is that people can create and share almost anything they want, including lies and jokes about various topics. It's kind of hard nowadays to figure out what is truly real and what is fake or just a joke.
In these instances, there are many web pages and individuals who spend their time creating jokes, lies, and hoaxes on the internet. Unfortunately, one of the popular subjects for jokes and hoaxes is celebrity deaths.
It's hard to know for sure if something is true or if it's just something that people made up, and so sometimes when we read the title of an article, we take it at face value and share it with our followers. This is usually how these hoaxes gain popularity and spread around.
Celebrity death hoaxes have been common among internet users for a while now, and we've all probably fallen victim to clicking on a site with the title "Celebrity xxxxx dies during xxxxxxx." It's equally disappointing and relieving when we click on a site only to find that it was just a hoax.
Let's dive into some of the most popular celebrity death hoaxes that circulated across the internet.
1. James Earl Jones
A parody news website joked that this Star Wars actor had died, but the website redirected you to a page that said, "You got owned!"
AP2. Wayne Knight
Wayne went to Twitter to reassure his fans that he is alive and well after some fake sites claimed that he had died in a car crash.
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic3. Chloë Grace Moretz
Chloë wasn't too happy when she found out that people were spreading false rumors that she had passed away in a snowboarding accident.
Alban Wyters/Abaca/startraksphoto.com
4. Jim Carrey
False reports circulated claiming that Jim had died in a plane crash. His representative went to E! to confirm that he was perfectly fine and that it was a hoax.
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
5. Eddie Murphy
Eddie has been the subject of death hoaxes on multiple occasions. The last time, he was supposedly said to have died in a snowboarding accident in Switzerland.
Jim Spellman/WireImage.com
6. Céline Dion
People thought that this famous singer had passed away due to a trending hashtag that said, "RIP Céline Dion," but she is still alive and well.
London Entertainment/Splash
7. Justin Bieber
Despite attempts by people to spread this rumor, the "RIP Justin Bieber" trending topic was just a hoax.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
8. Soulja Boy
Soulja Boy was also a victim of a hashtag that said, "RIP Soulja Boy," but it was indeed a hoax, and the singer is alive and well.
Rick Diamond/Getty Images
9. Reba McEntire
Reba shot down death rumors by saying, "While I would love to be shooting a movie in Austria, I definitely did not fall off a mountain!
Nor am I dead! I am alive and kicking!!!"
ABC/JASON KEMPIN
10. Jon Bon Jovi
Jon took a humorous approach to address the false accusations of his dying from cardiac arrest. "Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey," dated Dec. 19, 2011, at 6 p.m., along with the message, "Rest assured that Jon is alive and well! This photo was just taken."
Ragnar Singsaas/WireImage
11. Missy Elliot
Missy went to Twitter to assure her fans that she was perfectly fine after a rumor surfaced about her passing. Missy said, "I'm great, people! For all who keep asking! Alive and well! Enjoy your night, tweeps!"
Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com
12. Denzel Washington
Denzel was yet another celebrity who was rumored to have passed away in a snowboarding accident, but his publicist shut it down by stating that he was working on a project in Atlanta.
Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMA Press
13. Tony Danza
Tony's rumored death was said to be caused by a fall off a cliff in New Zealand, but fortunately, it was just a hoax.
Jason LaVeris//FilmMagic
14. Jackie Chan
Someone created a "RIP Jackie Chan" Facebook page, which sparked the hoax, but he is still alive and with us.
Trago/FilmMagic
15. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
The Rock was yet another celebrity rumored to have fallen off a cliff in New Zealand. "I would love to meet the person who is starting rumors of my death—to show them how a dead foot feels up their ass," The Rock tweeted.
Disney/Ron Philips
16. James Avery
This one is actually a bit different because people confused Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with Scottish soccer player Phil "Uncle Phil," who actually did pass away.
NBC
17. Taylor Lautner
Taylor was said to have died from an overdose, but the hoax was quickly shut down when he was announced as a presenter at the Golden Globes.
NPG.com
18. Stephenie Meyer
Twitter users jumped on this hoax quickly, but Stephenie promptly posted on her website to shut the rumor down.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images
19. Kanye West
Kanye had supposedly passed away in a luxury car crash, but luckily this isn't true, and he's still around with us.
Rob Loud/Getty Images
20. Zach Braff
Zach's rumor started by claiming that he had passed away by suicide. He quickly took to the internet to post a video proving his mortality.
John Shearer/Getty Images
21. Matt Damon
Matt Damon supposedly went missing during a camping trip, but clearly, he is not missing.
National Photo Group
22. Britney Spears
Britney was hacked on Twitter, and the hacker posted a "sad day" message, but it was later confirmed that she was alive and well. Even though we know now that the "well" part probably wasn't true.
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
23. Harrison Ford
Harrison supposedly died on his yacht, but at the moment this hoax was circulating, he was actually on the set of Morning Glory.
Jun Sato/Getty Images
24. Natalie Portman
Yet another celebrity who supposedly died from falling off a cliff in New Zealand.
AP Photo/Jennifer Graylock
25. Jeff Goldblum
Rumors hit the internet that Jeff had passed away on the same day as Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. However, an appearance by him confirmed that these were just rumors.
NBC
26. Paul Reiser
Paul was supposedly "discovered dead in the Squallahassee River, where he reportedly enjoyed fly fishing."
Charley Gallay/Getty Images
27. Tom Cruise
Surprise, surprise—another fake trip and death on the New Zealand cliffs.
Flynetonline.com
28. Miley Cyrus
Miley supposedly died twice in a short amount of time. First, in September, someone allegedly ran a stop sign and hit her.
Lastly, two months later, she was supposedly killed by a drunk driver.
RIV/Fame Pictures
29. Sinbad
In March of 2007, a rumor was started claiming that he had passed away from a heart attack, but he is very much alive.
John Sciulli/Wireimage.com
30. Tom Hanks
The cliff in New Zealand clearly has a record of taking the lives of famous people.
Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com
31. Jaleel White
Jaleel's death hoax claimed that he died by suicide. He later went on to thank those who "chose to spread the truth about my mortality."
John Shearer/Getty Images
32. Will Ferrell
In 2006, a rumor surfaced that Will had died in a paragliding accident, which clearly was not true.
Glenn Weiner/ZUMAPress.com
33. Justin Timberlake & Britney Spears
Back in the day when they were the "it" couple, they were supposedly both involved in a car accident that left Justin Timberlake in a coma and Britney dead.
Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com
34. Eminem
Eminem's death hoax was quite specific, claiming that he had gotten into a brutal car crash with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich.
Kevin Mazur / Getty Images
35. Paul McCartney
An urban legend page claims that Paul died in 1966 and was replaced with a look-alike.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
The internet is truly a crazy place, and I can't imagine being a celebrity and having to debunk your own death hoax. I mean, honestly, who has time to create these hoaxes anyway?
Honestly, I can say that nobody will probably believe that their favorite celebrity died on a New Zealand cliff or in a snowboarding accident, since those seem to be the popular causes for these hoax deaths.
