Plenty of stars have been killed by the rumor mill in recent years -- some more than once. Some falsities find their origin in fake news sites, which require only a few tweets or Facebook shares before panic spreads. Other "deaths" are less deliberate, finding their origin in confusing hashtags that soon become messages of mourning.
Although, as silly as they seem, some fatal rumors cause panic among stars' families and fans. To help prevent the next one, we bring you 32 major celebrity death hoaxes.
Celebrity Death Hoaxes
Paul McCartney(01 of33)
All of these other death hoaxes wish they were the Paul McCartney death hoax. The fact rumor that Paul passed away in 1966 and was replaced by an imposter is a day in Beatles history that ought to be celebrated annually. Forty years later in March of 2012, Paul "died" again and "RIP Paul McCartney" began trending on Twitter. (credit:Getty)
Celine Dion(02 of33)
Twitter killed Celine on March 16th, 2012. The same week Justin Bieber's death began trending, the singer was said to be killed by either a car or plane crash. (credit:Getty)
Morgan Freeman(03 of33)
A post supposedly from CNN, spread the false report that Freeman died in his home in December of 2010. "RT @CNN: Breaking News: actor Morgan Freeman has passed away in his Burbank home," was retweeted by many Twitter users, including LiveNewsWire and ESPN's Bruce Feldman. CNN later stated that they were not responsible for the original tweet. (credit:Getty )
Cher (04 of33)
The hash tag #NowThatchersDead pegged to Margaret Thatcher's death was quickly confused with the idea that "now that Cher is dead," leading to a spiral of Twitter-fueled rumors on April 8th, 2013. Notably, Kim Kardashian was confused by the trend, tweeting, "Did I just hear that Cher has passed away? Is this real? OMG." (credit:Getty)
Eminem(05 of33)
In May of 2010, a gruesome Facebook photo supposedly of the rapper began circling. The picture, captioned "left nearly DEAD after being stabbed 4 times in NYC" soon went viral, despite his rep's vehement denial of the rumor . (credit:Getty)
Natalie Portman(06 of33)
Natalie Portman was said to have died after falling to her death off a New Zealand cliff in June of 2009. The report, initiated by fake news site Global Associated News, matched the death hoaxes of Tom Hanks and Jeff Goldblum, who were said to have met a similar fate just a week earlier. (credit:Getty)
Tom Hanks(07 of33)
A false report of Tom Hanks' death spread quickly in November of 2006. Rumor held that America's most endearing actor had fallen to his death, when stumbling off a cliff while filming a movie. It turned out Hanks was (alive) in Ontario, Canada at the time. (credit:Getty)
Reba McEntire(08 of33)
When rumor spread that the country star fell to her death from a mountain in Austria in April of 2015, her family was devastated. Taste of Country reports that the star's nephew fell into a panic attack upon hearing the news. Although, Reba took the whole thing in stride, later posting this charming photo response. (credit:Reba McEntire / Who Say)
Jim Carrey(09 of33)
After a false report was posted by the Global Associated News on October 11th, 2012, a "RIP Jim Carrey" Facebook sprang up and fueled the rumor that Jim Carrey had died in an airplane crash. After an outpour of grief populated the page, a rep confirmed that Carrey was, in fact, very much alive. (credit:Getty)
Harrison Ford(10 of33)
Shortly following Michael Jackson's death, rumors began claiming the lives of other celebrities as well. One report, published in June of 2009, said that Harrison Ford had died aboard a yacht, off the coast of San Tropez. (credit:AP)
Chris Brown(11 of33)
On March 27th, 2012, Chris Brown's death began trending on Twitter. His passing was also corroborated on nearly all his Youtube videos, by comments lamenting his passing. "Rest in peace – may you be greeted in heaven by seventy virgins and a baseballbat," one person wrote on "Turn Up the Music." "I know that's what you always wanted." (credit:Getty)
Britney Spears (12 of33)
A hacker took to Britney Spears' twitter profile, to spread rumors of her death on June 28th, 2009. Having been "killed" in an earlier hoax that involved a fake car crash with Justin Timberlake, Spears took the falsities in stride, reassuring fans she was "fine and dandy ... spending her time at home." (credit:Getty)
Eddie Murphy(13 of33)
Eddie Murphy was the victim of two death hoaxes, one on December 29th, 2011 and March 21st, 2012. Both rumors involved snowboarding accidents in Switzerland, which is ironically also how Chloë Grace Moretz recently "died." Those alps are rather fictitiously dangerous. (credit:Getty)
Justin Bieber(14 of33)
On March 11th, 2012, "RIP Justin Bieber" upset the mass of Beliebers who enjoy being overly aggressive and emotional in 140 characters or less. Meanwhile, the petit Canadian was microblogging about spending the day with his grandpa and the world soon realized he was alive and well enough to continue spitting and peeing everywhere. (credit:Getty)
Chloë Grace Moretz(15 of33)
When news broke that she had been killed in a snowboarding accident on September 16th, the "Carrie" star took to Twitter to respond to her faux murderers. "I've had my loved ones calling crying to check and see if I'm alive," she tweeted, "Don't make this up. It's not real. I am fully alive and here. You're sick." (credit:AP)
Charlie Sheen(16 of33)
Another fatality imparted by Global Associated News, Charlie Sheen was said to have died in a snowboarding accident on December 26th, 2010. Denise Richards spoke out to confirm that Sheen was, in fact, alive and on his way over to visit their daughter. (credit:Getty)
Miley Cyrus(17 of33)
Following her controversial VMAs performance at the end of August, a report began circulating that Miley Cyrus had committed suicide as a result of PTSD. "BREAKING-NEWS- [R.I.P.]," the message read, "MILEY CYRUS commits SUICIDE after traumatic stress -[Rest in Peace]-hollywooddailydose/exclusive (for 18 years and abo... MILEY recorded a suicide video message for her fans."The "Wrecking Ball" singer was also the victim of a death hoax in December 2009, when Peaches Geldorf claimed a "friend in the industry" said Miley had died had in a car accident. (credit:Getty)
Tom Cruise(18 of33)
A fake news report that Tom Cruise had died in a car crash shocked Facebook in April of 2013. Oddly enough, a line at the bottom of a post read "THIS STORY IS 100% FAKE! This is … a complete work of fiction for entertainment purposes!" Tom Cruise is still 100% alive. (credit:Getty)
Paris Hilton(19 of33)
Paris Hilton fell victim to a fictional car crash in September 2012 and it wasn't the first time the heiress passed away. In June 2007, rumors spread that Hilton had been shanked to death in jail. A spokeswoman confirmed that she was still very much alive. (credit:Getty)
Zach Braff(20 of33)
On October 12th, 2009, New Jersey resident Chris Langanella spread a rumor that Zach Braff was the victim of a fatal overdoese. Braff responded with a video confirming that he was, in fact, alive, and Laganella posted an apology, saying:
"I'm sorry if I scared everyone. Zach, sorry if you got offended by me posting a fake suicide about you on the Internet. Your 32,000 square foot house would be pretty empty without you. Thanks for (apparently) taking it lightly, since I haven't gotten a letter about a lawsuit yet. Just so you know, I'm a huge fan; that's the only reason I made this page, believe it or not. Also, sorry for upsetting your mother :("(credit:Getty )
Jon Bon Jovi(21 of33)
On December 19th, 2011, word spread that Jon Bon Jovi fell into a coma, was taken to the hospital and later "suffered cardiac arrest." The singer proved he still had a pulse, by posting this photo to Facebook the same day. (credit:Jon Bon Jovi / Facebook)
Kanye West(22 of33)
When "RIP Kanye West" began trending in October of 2009, then-girlfriend Amber Rose spoke out on her own page, saying,
"This RIPKanyeWest topic is not funny and it's NOT TRUE! He has people like myself and his family that love him very much.It's in extreme poor taste to have that as a trendy topic. It's totally disrespectful to make up a story like this, we're all human and we all make mistakes and to say someone died cuz of a mistake is ridiculous. U wouldn't want someone to say that about u."(credit:Getty)
Emma Watson(23 of33)
Vmecritical.com propogated a false report that Emma Watson had died on July 24, 2009. The story claimed that "police footage captured her driving with speeds up to 80 miles per hour on very narrow roads," and similar versions of the tale soon sprang up across various websites. A representative later announced that the story was untrue. (credit:Getty)
Jackie Chan(24 of33)
Jackie Chan has been the victim of numerous death hoaxes. Earlier in October, he sat down with Arsenio Hall to discuss his fictitious deaths. Chan described the latest incident, saying, "My manager called me in the United States asking, 'Are you okay?' 'I'm okay.' 'Everybody thought you'd died this morning!' 'What!' I said. 'No, no... don't worry, before I die, I'll call you.'" (credit:Getty)
Taylor Lautner(25 of33)
The rumor mill got creative for the death of this "Twilight" star in January of 2010. When his death started trending on Twitter, the story was that Lautner had been "drugged by strippers." A rep for Summit entertainment quickly released a statement, saying, "I am almost 100-percent positive this is a hoax." (credit:Getty)
Matt Damon(26 of33)
The September 2010 story that Matt Damon was found dead in the desert near San Diego is said to be attributed to TMZ. Despite having given interviews after his reported fatality, the story was rapidly perpetuated. Spoiler: Matt Damon is still alive. (credit:Getty)
Russell Crowe(27 of33)
Russell Crowe was yet another actor who "fell off a cliff." Although, unlike Tom Hanks, Jeff Goldbulm and Natalie Portman (who allegedly died in Australia), Crowes's body was said to be found in Austria. This September 2010 rumor was also the word of the Global Associated Press. (credit:Getty)
Avril Lavigne(28 of33)
Much like Charlie Sheen and Owen Wilson before her, the Global Associated News said Avril Lavigne had passed away in a snowboarding accident in January of 2011. Soon proved untrue, the report claimed the Canadian singer crashed into a tree and was proclaimed dead before arriving at the local hospital in Northern British Columbia. (credit:Getty)
Tony Danza(29 of33)
In September of 2011, Tony Danza was added to the list of New Zealand death hoax victims. The Global Associated Press released a story saying that Danza “fell more than 60 feet to his death on the Kauri Cliffs while on-set.” Of course, Twitter and Facebook didn't help dispute the rumor. (credit:AP)
Jeff Goldblum(30 of33)
The Global Associated News reported that Jeff Goldbum died in New Zealand, shortly following the actual death of Michael Jackson in June of 2009. A few weeks later, Goldbum appeared on "The Colbert Report" in order to prove he was alive and well. (credit:Getty)
George Clooney(31 of33)
On June 30th, 2009, some folks from the site fakeawish.com took to Twitter to spread the news that George Clooney had died in a plane crash over the rockies in 2009. Clooney was, of course, alive ... and receiving a flood of calls "from legitimate media outlets and some of Clooney's friends who were genuinely shaken by reports of Clooney's death." (credit:AP)
Lady Gaga(32 of33)
In May of 2012, "RIP Lady Gaga" began trending on Twitter. Gossipcop attributed to confusion to some users calling Gaga a "really inspiring person," and the compliment later being shortened into what became her death rumor. (credit:Getty)
Joan Rivers(33 of33)
When rumors spread that Joan Rivers had died on September 14th, 2011, the comedienne was quick to respond. "I don't know where this came from," she said. “I did very well performing this weekend in Ottawa and I didn't even bomb on stage. I think this story came from Betty White -- that b-tch!" (credit:Getty)
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