Famous figures who were reported dead while still alive

The 95-year-old philosopher and linguist has had a home in Brazil since 2015, and had been in hospital in Sao Paulo recovering from a stroke he suffered in 2023 when rumors of his death started trending on X. Popular publications like Jacobin, the British newspaper The New Statesman, and the Brazilian news site Diario do Centro do Mundo published his obituaries on June 18. However, when the Associated Press reached out to Chomsky's wife, Valeria Wasserman Chomsky, she responded, "No, it is false." In fact, the Beneficencia Portuguesa hospital in Sao Paulo where he had been hospitalized said in a statement that Chomsky had been discharged on Tuesday to continue his recovery at home.

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George Soros -

George Soros, a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist famous for starting his own hedge funds and then donating 80% of his wealth, was falsely pronounced dead on the internet on May 14, 2023. The words "George Soros dead" went viral after a so-called "conspiracy theorist" named Cillian tweeted a breaking news announcement that George Soros died of a "violent heart attack." Cillian attributed the news to Politics For All Ireland, another fake account on social media, and his tweet, from his handle CilComLFC, was viewed by more than 745,000 people. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first death hoax for Soros, as Reuters mistakenly published his obituary in 2013.

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Simon Cowell -

On December 1, 2022, a false news story started circulating that 'America's Got Talent' creator Simon Cowell had died. A YouTube video showed a coffin surrounded by white flowers and a large photo of Cowell on an easel beside it. Former President Bill Clinton appears to stand before the coffin in a facemask paying his respects. The video title claimed to have breaking news about the death of Simon Cowell, but of course, the media mogul and presenter is alive and well. In fact, he appeared at the yearly Royal Variety Performance in London along with a host of royals and other celebrities on the very day he was reported dead. The photo used in the video was actually photoshopped from the 2021 funeral of baseball legend Hank Aaron, which Bill Clinton did attend.

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Jimmy Fallon -

The hashtag #RIPJimmyFallon started trending on Twitter the night of November 15, 2022, and 'The Tonight Show' host was quite surprised to read the news, considering that he is alive and well. The trend comes as yet another collective joke mocking Elon Musk's poor handling of his recently purchased platform. Fallon himself tweeted, "Elon, can you fix this? #RIPJimmyFallon.” Most people were intentionally demonstrating how Musk's decision to fire so many employees involved with content moderation has led to a skyrocketing amount of fake news, but others actually thought the TV host had passed. The more mischievous ones in on the prank even tweeted the hashtag with photos of different TV hosts like James Corden.

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Jerry Lee Lewis -

'Great Balls of Fire' singer Jerry Lee Lewis was falsely reported dead on October 26, 2022. "He's alive," a spokesperson for Lewis' management company told NBC News. "TMZ reported erroneously off of a bull**** anonymous tip." In a surprising twist, the singer did actually pass away two days later on October 28, aged 87.

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Queen Elizabeth II -

Prior to her actual death on September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II was reported dead after contracting COVID-19 during the pandemic, and again in March of 2022 after she hadn't been seen in public for a few weeks due to poor health.

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Dionne Warwick -

Legendary singer Dionne Warwick joined Twitter for the first time at age 80, and was an instant sensation. When false rumors started to circulate that she had died, she shared one of the reports on Twitter with the caption "Oh no!"

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Madonna -

On November 26, 2020, after the passing of soccer god Maradona, many people got confused and thought it was Madonna who passed away. While both are legends, let's be clear: the Queen of Pop is alive and well.

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Clint Eastwood -

In 2019, rumors spread like wildfire that Eastwood had died of a heart attack. But this was not the first time the actor had been declared dead, as there was a similar report in 2017.

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Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake -

Back in 2001, Britney and JT were reported dead by two DJs in Dallas, who were apparently just playing a cruel prank.

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Barack Obama -

In July 2011, the Fox News Twitter account was hacked, with the hackers tweeting that Obama had been assassinated.

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Tech N9ne - Tech N9ne had to release a video to say that he was alive and well, after reporters confused him with battle rapper Tech 9, who passed away on March 25, 2019.

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Avril Lavigne - In 2003, it was rumored that Avril Lavigne had killed herself. The rumors resurfaced in 2017, with a viral Twitter thread speculating that Lavigne had been replaced by a lookalike.

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Jackie Chan - The internet was ablaze in March 2011, when rumors of Jackie Chan passing away started to circulate.

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Taylor Swift - Taylor Swift reportedly died in a car accident in 2009, the same year that she had a fatal reaction to sleeping pills, according to two fake news stories.

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Steve Jobs - In 2008, three years before his actual death, Bloomberg published an obituary of Steve Jobs. Strangely, the document was 17 pages long.

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Celine Dion - Celine Dion has seen many rumors about her own death. "The thing that worries me is my mum," she told Digital Spy, "It makes me a little mad."

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Paul McCartney - A widely-held conspiracy theory is that McCartney died back in 1966, and was replaced by a double.

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Lindsay Lohan - In July 2011, rumors that Lindsay Lohan had died started spreading online.

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Will Ferrell - A joke press release from iNewswire claimed that Will Ferrell had died in a paragliding accident in 2006.

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Gabourey Sidibe - The talented actress was the target of a death hoax back in March 2016. She said her "version of hell is people believing poorly written articles about me."

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Russell Crowe - The Oscar-winning actor was hit with death rumors in 2010. He jokingly replied on Twitter, writing "Unable to answer tweets fell off a mountain in Austria."

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Nick Jonas - The Jonas Brother was hit with two death hoaxes in 2009. One claimed he died of cardiac arrest, the other said he had heart failure at a strip club.

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Vin Diesel - The 'Fast and Furious' actor was hit with death rumors in January 2014.

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Justin Bieber - Justin Bieber has been hit with many fake death reports. Rumors about him dying circulated in 2009, 2010, and 2012.

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Eddie Murphy - The world famous actor was reportedly killed in a snowboarding accident in 2012. After Charlie Murphy died in 2017, people confused him with his brother Eddie.

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Dwayne Johnson - The Rock reportedly died while filming a stunt in 2014. "I would love to meet the person who is starting rumors of my death - to show them how a dead foot feels up their a**," he wrote on Twitter.

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Alice Cooper - Back in 1973, music magazine Melody Maker reviewed an Alice Cooper concert, but wrote it in the form of an obituary. Death rumors spread like wildfire.

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Abe Vigoda - Abe Vigoda was first reported dead in 1982, and again five years later. The 'Godfather' actor eventually passed away in 2016.

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Zach Braff - The 'Scrubs' star was reported to have died by a bogus CNN page. The culprit went on to apologize.

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Macaulay Culkin - The child star was a target of death rumors in 2014, which he addressed on Instagram.

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Axl Rose - The Guns 'N' Roses front man was rumored to be dead in December 2014. He replied by tweeting "If I'm dead do I still have to pay taxes?"

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Michael Jordan -

The basketball icon died from a heart attack in 2015, according to a fake article from La Crónica de Hoy.

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Martin Lawrence - According to News Buzz Daily, Martin Lawrence was found dead in LA. He never replied to the fake rumor.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger - Schwarzenegger died of a heart attack in 2015, according to MSNBC.com. The news was fake, of course.

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Carlos Santana - After rumors started on Twitter, Santana's people denied news of his death. "He is alive and well and enjoying his morning," his rep told USA Today.

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Robert Redford - Fake reports claimed that Robert Redford died in December 2015, after he fell off a golf cart in Santa Monica.

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Chevy Chase - Breaking 13 News claimed that this 'Community' star died in his sleep, but the rumors weren't true.

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Sean Penn - After Sean Penn interviewed El Chapo, a fake news article claimed that the actor was killed by the Mexican mob boss.

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Jack Black -

Back in 2016, Black's band Tenacious D had their Twitter hacked. "We can assure you that Jack is ALIVE and WELL and that this was a sick 'prank,'" they later tweeted.

Famous figures who were reported dead while still alive

Former President Jimmy Carter incorrectly reported dead in fake statement

24/07/24 | StarsInsider

CELEBRITY Fake news

Fake news comes for everyone, especially the rich and famous. It seems like every day there's another fake story about a celebrity or public figure. However, false rumors take on new weight when it comes to celebrity deaths. Many celebs have been reported dead, when in reality they're alive and breathing.

Ailing former President Jimmy Carter fell victim to the death hoax in recent days. A letter claiming to be from "the office of Jimmy Carter" announcing his death began to circulate the internet on July 23, but was quickly proven to be a fake. The supposed statement gave itself away by including a paragraph that criticized policies Carter implemented while he was president. Carter's family confirmed that he is still hanging on and receiving hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he has been since 2023. Carter is 99 years old and his health has been declining since the death of his wife, Rosalynn Carter, in November 2023.

Click on to meet the other celebs and public figures who were falsely reported dead.