A death hoax is a deliberate report of someone's death that is later revealed to be untrue. [1] [2] [3] In some cases, it might be because the person has intentionally faked death.
A death hoax is a deliberate report of someone's death that is later revealed to be untrue. [1] [2] [3] In some cases, it might be because the person has intentionally faked 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."
Samuel Langhorne Clemens/Mark Twain, 1897. [4]
In the 21st century, death hoaxes about celebrities have been widely perpetuated via the Internet. However, they are not a new phenomenon: in 1945 following the death of Franklin Roosevelt, there were hoax reports of the deaths of Charlie Chaplin and Frank 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 that Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966 and was replaced by a look-alike.
Hoaxes about the death of a celebrity increase in frequency when genuine celebrity deaths occur, such as when Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays died in rapid succession in June 2009 followed by Patrick Swayze a few months later. [6] Paul Walker's death on 30 November 2013 sparked rumors of Eddie Murphy dying in a snowboarding accident. [7]
Other cases of celebrity death hoaxes fueled by social media include Bill Murray, Jon Bon Jovi, Gordon Lightfoot, Shah Rukh Khan [8] Jerry Springer, [9] Bill Nye, [10] BHMNL star Syuusuke Saito, Joe Rogan, Queen Elizabeth II, William H. Macy, Harry Belafonte, [11] [12] and Jimmy Fallon. [13]
In August 2018, Michael J. Fox was targeted due to his Parkinson's disease and his age. [14] In June 2023, Jeremy Renner was falsely rumored to have died from his wounds from a snowplow incident in January. Teenage rapper Lil Tay and her older brother were falsely reported as dead on 9 August 2023, when her Instagram account was compromised. [15] On 11 September, 2023, country music singer Toby Keith was incorrectly reported dead because of his stomach cancer, before his actual death from the disease on 5 February 2024.
On 8 January 1992, Headline News almost became the victim of a death hoax. A man phoned HLN claiming to be President George H. W. Bush's physician, alleging that Bush had died following an incident in Tokyo where he vomited and lost consciousness; however, before anchorman Don Harrison was about to report the news, executive producer Roger Bahre, who was off-camera, immediately yelled "No! Stop!" [16] 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 from Idaho, who was questioned by the Secret Service and subsequently sent to a medical facility for psychiatric evaluation. [17]
On 18 March 2015, a fake screenshot supposedly from the PMO's website reported the death of Lee Kuan Yew, first prime minister of Singapore. [18] 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 the Attorney-General of Singapore, after "careful consideration of all relevant factors". [19]
On 22 November 2022, a fabricated screenshot of a CNN story with the headline "Donald Trump dead at 76" was posted on Instagram and Twitter. This caused posts falsely claiming that Trump had died to circulate on social media. The origin of the hoax was traced to comedian Tim Heidecker, who had one day earlier posted a tweet with the joking implication that Trump's death was being covered up. [20] [21] [22]
A hoax letter reporting the death of former US president Jimmy Carter, age 99 and in hospice care, began circulating on social media on 23 July 2024. The creator of the letter said to Reuters that they were exacerbated about how news media were reporting on Joe Biden's health, and had created the letter "to prove that many people on X 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 wife Rosalynn as a "baddie" and "the original Brat". Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) fell for the letter, offering thoughts and prayers to Carter's family. [23] [24] [25]
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 are Elvis Presley, Andy Kaufman, Tupac Shakur, Prince, Michael Jackson, and XXXTentacion. Another death denial rumor is that John F. Kennedy Jr. faked his death in the 1999 plane crash and went into hiding. This conspiracy theory was later spread by the QAnon movement, which also claimed that he would return to public life and be Donald Trump's running mate in the 2024 presidential election. [26]
Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean statesman and lawyer who served as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party from 1954 to 1992. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar from 1955 until his death in 2015. Lee is widely recognised as the founding father of the modern Singaporean state, and for his leadership in turning and transforming it into a highly developed country during his tenure.
QAnon is a far-right American political conspiracy theory and political movement that originated in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as "Q". Those claims have been relayed and developed by online communities and influencers. Their core belief is that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic child molesters is operating a global child sex trafficking ring that conspired against president Donald Trump. QAnon has direct roots in Pizzagate, an Internet conspiracy theory that appeared one year earlier, but also incorporates elements of many other theories. QAnon has been described as a cult.
A faked death, also called a staged death, is the act of an individual purposely deceiving other people into believing that the individual is dead, when the person is, in fact, still alive. The faking of one's own death by suicide is sometimes referred to as pseuicide or pseudocide. People who commit pseudocide can do so by leaving evidence, clues, or through other methods. Death hoaxes can also be created and spread solely by third-parties for various purposes.
The Clinton body count is a conspiracy theory centered around the belief that former U.S. President Bill Clinton and his wife, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have secretly had their political opponents murdered, often made to look like suicides, totaling as many as 50 or more listed victims. The Congressional Record (1994) stated that the compiler of the original list, Linda Thompson, admitted she had 'no direct evidence' of Clinton killing anyone. Indeed, she says the deaths were probably caused by 'people trying to control the president' but refuses to say who they were."
A racial hoax occurs when a person falsely claims that a crime was committed by member of a specific race. The crime may be fictitious, or may be an actual crime.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incarnation of NBC's long-running Tonight Show franchise, with Fallon serving as the sixth host. The show also stars sidekick and announcer Steve Higgins and house band The Roots. The Tonight Show is produced by Katie Hockmeyer and executive-produced by Lorne Michaels. The show records from Studio 6B in Rockefeller Center, New York City, which is the same studio in which Tonight Starring Jack Paar and then The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson were produced from 1957 until 1972.
Paul Horner was an American writer, comedian and contributor to fake news websites. Horner has been described as a "hoax artist" by outlets such as The Associated Press, The Chicago Tribune, PolitiFact and The Washington Post.
The first hoax reported in Singapore was in 1805, when the Bukit Timah Monkey Man was reported for the first time. Depending on the subject and type of the hoax, it's been reported to Singapore Police Force, there may be an investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department and subsequently a possible a stern warning or prosecution by the AGC.
Fake news websites are websites on the Internet that deliberately publish fake news—hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be real news—often using social media to drive web traffic and amplify their effect. Unlike news satire, fake news websites deliberately seek to be perceived as legitimate and taken at face value, often for financial or political gain. Such sites have promoted political falsehoods in India, Germany, Indonesia and the Philippines, Sweden, Mexico, Myanmar, and the United States. Many sites originate in, or are promoted by, Russia, or North Macedonia among others. Some media analysts have seen them as a threat to democracy. In 2016, the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a resolution warning that the Russian government was using "pseudo-news agencies" and Internet trolls as disinformation propaganda to weaken confidence in democratic values.
"Pizzagate" is a conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle, falsely claiming that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) had discovered a pedophilia ring linked to members of the Democratic Party while searching through Anthony Weiner's emails. It has been extensively discredited by a wide range of organizations, including the Washington, D.C. police.
Fake news websites target United States audiences by using disinformation to create or inflame controversial topics such as the 2016 election. Most fake news websites target readers by impersonating or pretending to be real news organizations, which can lead to legitimate news organizations further spreading their message. Most notable in the media are the many websites that made completely false claims about political candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, as part of a larger campaign to gain viewers and ad revenue or spread disinformation. Additionally, satire websites have received criticism for not properly notifying readers that they are publishing false or satirical content, since many readers have been duped by seemingly legitimate articles.
Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue. Although false news has always been spread throughout history, the term fake news was first used in the 1890s when sensational reports in newspapers were common. Nevertheless, the term does not have a fixed definition and has been applied broadly to any type of false information presented as news. It has also been used by high-profile people to apply to any news unfavorable to them. Further, disinformation involves spreading false information with harmful intent and is sometimes generated and propagated by hostile foreign actors, particularly during elections. In some definitions, fake news includes satirical articles misinterpreted as genuine, and articles that employ sensationalist or clickbait headlines that are not supported in the text. Because of this diversity of types of false news, researchers are beginning to favour information disorder as a more neutral and informative term.
The Gateway Pundit (TGP) is an American far-right fake news website. The website is known for publishing falsehoods, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories.
U.S. President Donald Trump created the Fake News Awards to highlight the news outlets that he said were responsible for misrepresenting him and/or producing false reports both before, and during, his presidency. A post to the blog of the Republican Party website announced the winners on January 17, 2018. They included reports ranging from comments by journalists on social media to news reports that later required corrections.
On January 29, 2019, American actor Jussie Smollett approached the Chicago Police Department and reported a hate crime that he had staged earlier that morning. He planned the fake hate crime with two Nigerian-American brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who had worked as extras on the set of television drama Empire, in which Smollett was a cast member. During the staged attack, which took place on East Lower North Water Street in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood, the disguised brothers shouted racial and homophobic slurs while one poured bleach on Smollett and the other placed a noose around his neck. In addition to falsely reporting that he had been attacked by two unknown individuals, Smollett described one of them as a white male. He also told police the men shouted "This is MAGA country" during the attack, a reference to the Trumpist political slogan "Make America Great Again". The brothers later testified that Smollett staged the attack near a surveillance camera so that video of it could be publicized.
Italygate is a pro-Trump, QAnon-affiliated conspiracy theory that alleges the 2020 United States presidential election was rigged to favor Joe Biden using satellites and military technology to remotely switch votes from Donald Trump to Biden from the U.S. Embassy in Rome. The conspiracy was also rumored to involve the Vatican. Fact-checkers at Reuters and USA Today, who investigated these claims, described them as "false" and "baseless".
After the results of the 2020 United States presidential election determined U.S. president Donald Trump had lost, a scheme was devised by him, his associates, and Republican Party officials in seven states to subvert the election by creating and submitting fraudulent certificates of ascertainment to falsely claim Trump had won the electoral college vote in those states. The intent of the scheme was to pass the fraudulent certificates to then-vice president Mike Pence in the hope he would count them, rather than the authentic certificates, and thus overturn Joe Biden's victory. This scheme was defended by a fringe legal theory developed by Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and John Eastman, detailed in the Eastman memos, which claimed a vice president has the constitutional discretion to swap official electors with an alternate slate during the certification process, thus changing the outcome of the electoral college vote and the overall winner of the presidential race. The scheme came to be known as the Pence Card. By June 2024, dozens of Republican state officials and Trump associates had been indicted in four states for their alleged involvement. The federal Smith special counsel investigation is investigating Trump's role in the events. Testimony has revealed that Trump was fully aware of the fake electors scheme, and knew that Eastman's plan for Pence to obstruct the certification of electoral votes was a violation of the Electoral Count Act.
