Is it sad that people start death rumors about random celebrities or is it sad that most of these obscure stars are such a mess that we often need reassurance that these tragic reports are just rumors?
To be fair, Hugh Hefner isn't a mess, he's just old. It's not his fault we believed it. Charlie Sheen's death on the other hand was most likely met with cries of "not-winning" or "failing!" Don't worry, your favorite tiger-blooded space cadet is just fine. So, in light of this joyous occasion, let's take a look at some of the best celebrity death rumors.
Taylor Lautner - The Twilight star was falsely killed off by a night of partying. At the time, Lautner was 17-years-old, a prime age for a "too much partying" story. The hoax went as far as having a R.I.P. Facebook page created.
Matt Damon - After a post on his blog that he "was heading to the desert for gold and adventure," rumors begin circulating that Matt Damon ran out of water and died. This rumor wouldn't have caught any sort of wind had TMZ not picked up the story and ran rampant with it. Matt Damon was safe and sound in Italy filming The Informant.
Jeff Goldblum - A meaningless tweet was sent out reporting the actor's death, claiming he fell while on the set of a movie in New Zealand. The rumor, however, spread quickly due to the fact that it was on the same day that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died. Goldblum responded by giving his own eulogy on The Colbert Report.
Tom Hanks - Oddly enough, three years earlier, Tom Hanks had also been reported on falling to his death in New Zealand. Someone created a fake news story reporting the death on FakeAWish.com, a website that provides pre-built templates that can be shared immediately. TMZ quickly debunked the rumor.
Jackie Chan - Earlier this year, the martial arts expert was reported on suffering a fatal heart attack due to the overwhelming stress of promoting Kung Fu Panda 2. We could see how a fluffy CGI panda could be quite stressful, but Jackie Chan debunked this rumor by snapping a shot of himself with Yuji Kumamaru, Consul-General of Japan.
Kanye West - Who could forget when "RIPKanyeWest" was a trending topic on Twitter? Just weeks after the infamous Taylor Swift interruption, a random user tweeted that Kanye had been killed in a car crash. "RIPKanyeWest" quickly rose to the top trending topics, until debunked by Amber Rose.
Lady Gaga - Just days before Lady Gaga was set to perform at the Grammy's with Elton John, she had been reported dead by a radio station in Ireland. Nothing was done to debunk the rumor, except for Gaga showing up at the Grammy's alive and well.
Johnny Depp - An AngelFire (yes, AngelFire) page had been mocked up to resemble a CNN news story reporting Johnny Depp being killed in a car crash. Obviously, the internet savvy could see the AngelFire in the url. Unfortunately, the internet un-savvy helped this story spread like wildfire.
Lindsay Lohan - After her Wikipedia page added an entry about her drug overdose death, a fake Twitter account by the name of "kimkardashain" (yes, spelled wrong) tweeted news that Lindsay had been reported dead. Even with the misspelled star's name, fans everywhere thought the real Kim Kardashian was confirming the news they had heard.
Morgan Freeman - A user tweeted false news about Morgan Freeman's death on Twitter. The catch? He made it look like a retweet of a CNN story. With the fake backing of CNN, the user's 1500 followers quickly spread the news to their own followers, and then those follower's followers. For a brief moment, the thought of Morgan Freeman incapable of narrating documentaries was all too real.
