COMMENTARY | Why? That’s the question on many minds in regard to the ludicrous celebrity death hoaxes that have occurred over the past year. Perhaps those who begin the morbid rumor are trying to create drama in their own boring, mundane lives, but most of us find the online death hoax in very bad taste.
The latest incident involved country singer Reba McEntire. Initial reports were said to come from Global Associated News, stating that the 56-year-old had died while filming a movie in Austria. It alleged that the redhead fell more than 100 feet to her death in a remote area while on the set.
When the news spread over the internet like wildfire, fans began flooding the web with desperate pleas, hoping that the story was false. Fortunately for Reba, her family, friends and fans, the story was fake. At the bottom of the Global Associated News page in small print, it read “THIS STORY IS 100% FAKE! this is an entertainment website, and this is a totally fake article based on zero truth and is a complete work of fiction for entertainment purposes!”
How is that entertainment? Frankly, I think people who write such trash should be subject to criminal prosecution, clearly subjecting those who are close to the celebrity to potentially extreme emotional pain when the story starts running amok.
McEntire is only one of many celebs to become the subject of an online death hoax. Just last month, rocker Bon Jovi was said to have died after suffering from cardiac arrest after a report by website dailynewbloginternational “reported” the news. They stated the singer was found unconscious in his hotel room and that there were hundreds of reporters gathered at the hospital waiting on the word of his condition, and it concluded by stating that he’d been pronounced dead.
Shortly after the word spread, Bon Jovi posted a picture on his Facebook page of himself in front of a Christmas tree holding a sign that read, “Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey, December 19, 2011, 6:00.”
Only last weekend, rumors that Cher was dead hit Twitter. Even reality star Kim Kardashian believed the gossip, tweeting, “Did I just hear Cher has passed away? Is this real? OMG (oh my God)… I hope this is a Twitter joke and not true. I don’t see it on the news anywhere. I’m praying its (sic) not true…”
For those who start these vicious pranks, I hope they remember that karma may not be too kind to them in the future. These “jokes” are anything but funny.