Hollywood Death Hoaxes Are Morbidly Unfunny
6:33 pm, July 14th, 2009
Reports of the deaths of George Clooney, Jeff Goldblum and Natalie Portman are grossly exaggerated – and, really, just plain gross. On the heels of the actual demises of Michael Jackson, Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett came a flurry of rumors of the deaths of several perfectly healthy celebrities, courtesy of a sick site called FakeAWish.com. And while FakeAWish.com notes that it fabricates stories “for the purpose of entertainment,” Gossip Cop is having a very hard time finding the entertainment value in scaring friends, family members, and fans.
In quick succession there were stories about the tragic passing away of Clooney, Goldblum, and Portman, all having all ‘died’ in an eerily similar manner – falling 60 feet from a cliff while filming in New Zealand. Thankfully, these stories were complete bunk and dismissed quickly. But not before Clooney’s rep, for instance, needed to calm frantic friends.
There also was just a piece that ran on CNN’s user-generated (and unedited) site iReport.com that had an Associated Press “byline” with the headline, “Singer-Songwriter Rick Astley Found Dead in Berlin Hotel Room.” The seemingly real “article” read, “Known for his 80’s pop hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up,’ the 43-year-old Rick Astley has been pronounced dead today… after an ambulance responded to an emergency call from his hotel room. Astley was found unconscious in his hotel bedroom and was unable to be resuscitated.” This, too, was a horrible hoax.
Gossip Cop is at a total loss as to why anyone would concoct phony fatalities, but hopes this trend dies out soon.
RSS