A car accident. A drug overdose. A fatal fall … When it comes to celebrity death hoaxes, the methods of demise tend to follow familiar patterns. But despite the common tip-offs, there are some hoaxes that catch on quicker than a celebrity can cry, “I’m alive!” Here’s a look at some of the most widespread.
Elvis Presley
The King would have turned seventy-five in 2010, if he hadn’t passed away from a drug overdose back in 1977. Or did he?! In a twist on the death hoax, Presley remains one of the greatest dead-or-alive urban legends to date. Reported sightings of an older, obese Presley have been as commonplace as those of the icon’s ghost. But given Presley’s cherished legacy, it’s easy to see why some have found it hard to accept his passing.
Paul McCartney
This one just goes to show that playing albums backward may not be the best way to devise the death of a member of one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Students started this rumor in 1969, based on clues supposedly revealing McCartney’s death back in 1966. “Proof” included “hidden messages” in the Beatles’ White Album and Magical Mystery Tour recordings. Some believers said the cover of Abbey Road revealed a funeral death march, with Paul representing the sole shoeless corpse in the procession; others even claimed that the Beatles had replaced McCartney with a look-alike. McCartney himself disproved the hoax in a November 1969 Life magazine article and even named his 1993 solo album “Paul Is Live” to poke fun at his faux death.
Jeff Goldblum
For the last several years, some of the most rampant death hoaxes have involved the Kauri Cliffs, a particularly precarious precipice in New Zealand that’s allegedly claimed everyone from Tom Hanks to Tom Cruise to Jeff Goldblum, who was said to have taken a fateful fall from it in June 2009. He later confirmed otherwise through his publicist and a hilarious guest stint on The Colbert Report in which the “dead” actor reported on his own demise.
Paris Hilton
The power of the Internet has definitely fueled a new era of celebrity death hoaxes, and in 2007, Paris Hilton was the target. According to MuseumofHoaxes.com, a false story doctored to look like a CNN report read: “Although no official statement has been released, unnamed sources from within the Lynwood medical ward tell CNN that Paris received two wounds to the chest, one to the back, one to the throat, and three to the abdomen. Although her condition has been stabilized, surgeons are pessimistic about a full recovery, their main concern being that the puncture to her back may have severely damaged her spinal cord.”
