Still Alive
Whether a hoax or an honest mistake, these celebrities have all been reported to have died when they were still very much alive.
Sir Paul McCartney
Maybe the most famous death hoax of all time, the "Paul is dead" conspiracy theory posited that the Beatle had passed on and been replaced with a look-a-like. Adding fuel to the fire was the album cover for Abbey Road, which had McCartney barefoot and John Lennon wearing all white (as a priest would). The theory grew to the point that McCartney was forced to make multiple public denials of his passing.
Tom Cruise
In 2010, Tom Cruise was told that it was being reported that he had passed on in a plumbing accident. To which he replied, "I'm really alive. Did the Internet get it wrong again?"
George Clooney
Back in 2011, there were headlines around the Internet stating that George Clooney "Is Alive". It might seem like a weird headline were it not for the fact that there'd been earlier headlines reporting that he'd perished tragically after falling from a New Zealand cliff while filming a movie. Clooney hasn't been the only celeb to have reportedly fallen off of kiwi cliffs, though.
Betty White
Two years before Betty White actually passed on, the site EmpireNews.net posted an article with this headline: "Actress Betty White, 93, Dyes Peacefully in her Los Angeles Home". The news was as wrong as their spelling of the word "dies".
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
Dwayne Johnson
In 2014, the Global Associated News reported a fake story that Johnson had plunged to his demise off of the Kauri Cliffs while filming a stunt scene. They even claimed to have "confirmation" by New Zealand law enforcement officials.
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Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne did have a seizure and was hospitalized in 2013. But he came out as alive as ever—despite the reports of his demise.
Matt Damon
When Matt Damon was said to have passed on in 2009, he called the reports "silly". What did his family think of it? "All my wife said was, ‘Well, that's weird’," said Damon. "Then she reminded me that the same thing had happened to George [Clooney] a few years ago".
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
Macaulay Culkin
Following reports by a fake news site that the Home Alone star had passed on while on tour with his band, Macaulay Culkin posted a picture of himself with a caption that read, "playing dead".
Tom Petty
Tom Petty did meet his end on October 2, 2017–but not when CBS News first reported it. When Petty was found unresponsive, the news organization went ahead and announced that he had perished, along with citing the LAPD as a source. It wasn't long after that when Petty was confirmed to be alive and the LAPD was declared to have not been involved with the original report. Petty died later in the day.
Sean Connery
The greatest James Bond of all time did pass on in 2020. However, 27 years prior to his actual demise, news Sean Connery had kicked the bucket started to spread when his friend, retired Formula One World Champion James Hunt, passed on and some reported the deceased as James Bond. Ooops!
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Beyoncé Knowles
In 2015, Twitter blew up with a report of Beyoncé having lost her life in a car crash—news that came with a flaming accident photo as well.
Beyoncé Knowles
Not too long after those false reports, Knowles was once again in the RIP news. This time, the cause of her demise was blood loss due to an earring injury.
Gene Hackman
If ever you doubted the importance of choosing your words carefully, this headline should be a warning: "The Greatest Living American Actor at 85: Gene Hackman Is Gone But Still in Charge". Before the word "gone" could be replaced with "retired", there were already condolences going out online and an RIP Gene Hackman Facebook page.
Christopher Michael Little, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Bob Dylan
Back in the '90s, BBC Radio 1's Neale James said this on the air: "On this day in 1941, Bob Dylan was born, and what a shame he's not around to celebrate his birthday".
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Bob Dylan
Years later, on the Australian Today Show, they were talking about an auction of some of Dylan's documents when one of the hosts referred to Dylan as the "late singer". The show issued an apology.
Alice Cooper
Years ago, Melody Maker magazine wrote up a fake Alice Cooper obituary. The problem was that not everyone who read it got that it was a joke. When Cooper caught wind of it, he announced that, "I’m alive, and drunk as usual".
Kurt Cobain
A month prior to Kurt Cobain's passing, the Nirvana frontman was mistakenly reported deceased by CNN after the singer had overdosed in a Rome hotel room. That time, Cobain ended up in a coma, but he didn't pass away.
Marilyn Manson
There were no reports of Marilyn Manson's passing in 2017. But that was when Charles Manson met his end and some people online got confused. Ya know, same last name.
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas lived to be 103-years-old. However, three years prior to his passing, a fake news site called Your Action News 3 published a report saying Douglas had succumbed to natural causes just four days before his 101st birthday.
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Kirk Douglas
Lots of reputable news organizations prewrite celebrity obituaries in order to have them ready to go right away when the person dies. But in 2014, People magazine accidentally published their Kirk Douglas obit with this headline, "DO NOT PUB Kirk Douglas Dies". It wouldn't be the last time the magazine would make that mistake.
Joni Mitchell
In October of 2022, People published this headline: "Joni Mitchell dies at TK AGE".
Library of Congress Life, Wikimedia Commons
Fats Domino
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused damage and severe flooding to Fats Domino's house in New Orleans and he was reported to have lost his life in the devastation. However, Domino wasn't in the house at the time as he had relocated to Baton Rouge to stay with a friend.
Whitney Houston
A few weeks prior to the September 11 attacks, Whitney Houston had looked "skeletal" while performing at a Michael Jackson tribute concert. So, when she was reported to have perished from an overdose on September 12, it seemed plausible to many. But it wasn't true.
Whitney Houston
On September 13, her publicist issued this statement: "I’ve just spoken to Whitney. She is perfectly fine and does not understand why, with everything going on in the world right now, they have to find new rumors to dig up. She is home in New Jersey with her family".
John Mathew Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Lightfoot was at the dentist on February 18, 2010 when he heard that he had passed on.
Republic Country Club, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Russell Crowe
After a New York City radio station reported that Crowe had fallen to his doom off of an Australian mountain, he tweeted, "Unable to answer. Fell off a mountain in Austria, all over red rover. Don't know how I got there, but the media are never wrong. G’Bye".
Morgan Freeman
In The Shawshank Redemption, Tim Robbins' Andy Dufresne tells Morgan Freeman's Ellis “Red” Redding that he has to make a choice: "Get busy living, or get busy dying". Well, in 2012, Freeman wasn't given the choice when a fake RIP Morgan Freeman Facebook page went live. Freeman's response was pretty great though: "I keep reading that I have died. I hope those stories are not true".
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Steven Seagal
Like many on this list, Seagal got to experience his own RIP Steven Seagal Facebook page back in 2013. But he wasn't deceased.
Steven Seagal
He also didn't succumb to a heart-attack in 2015 as it was reported by some.
Jackie Chan
Given how Jackie Chan is famous for doing all of his own crazy stunts, fans have always feared he might lose his life doing them one day. But, thankfully, it hasn't happened yet and we know for sure it didn't happen back in 2013—regardless of what the reports were. "Today, everybody called to congratulate me on my rumored engagement," said Chan, "Afterward, everybody called me to see if I was alive".
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Arnold Schwarzenegger
Although the Twitterverse declared that Arnold Schwarzenegger had lost his life to a heart attack in 2015, the former Governor of California was, and still is, very much alive.
Frederic Legrand - COMEO, Shutterstock
Tanya Roberts
Bond girl Tanya Roberts' publicist announced her passing in 2021. The only problem? Roberts wasn't dead yet. the accidental announcement came while Roberts was in the hospital, but alive. She would pass a little while later.
Brad Pitt
If you read that Brad Pitt had been shot you'd click the link, right? Well, in 2016, that's what some scammers took advantage of when they created the death hoax rumor about Pitt in order to get people to click their link so they could take their data.
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