There's been fake deaths due to heart attacks, car crashes, drug overdoses and even reported fake suicides.
Sometimes the death reports are actually due to misreading accurate information. In the case of James Earl Jones, the report came back in 1998 when James Earl Ray was reported dead. In the case of Jackie Chan, his death report may not be as outlandish, so it appears deaths like Taylor Lautner's cocaine overdose or Taylor Swift's death from an allergic reaction take the prize. After the storm of Chan's death rumor online, his official Facebook fan page responded, confirming,
Don't believe the latest death rumors."
"Jackie is alive and well. Jackie Chan is just the latest among celebrities who have had death hoaxes spread through cyberspace in 2011. Not surprisingly, some did not take Chan's death rumor seriously.
"RIP Jackie Chan who died last March and now in August. "Jackie Chan dies at least once a month," @ISelenaSuperman said. "#Jackie Chan has died on twitter so many times when he actually dies people won't even notice," said @Prichter23.
The fake death rumors create an inherent problem with the decentralization of news on the Internet.
There another celebrity death hoax. Tuesday night, both Facebook and Twitter were buzzing with the news of Jackie Chan’s death. Good news, Chan is alive and well. Chan is definitely not the first subject of celebrity death hoaxes. Hilary Duff: Reports of Hilary’s death surfaced on August 11. Justin Bieber: In January, “RIP Justin Bieber” was trending on Twitter. A fake Kim Kardashian Twitter account fuelled the rumours. Charlie Sheen: In June, rumours of Sheen’s death spread, claiming he died at home from cardiac arrest. Avril Lavigne: Avril was the first celebrity death hoax of 2011. Jaden Smith: He also died snowboarding! Hugh Hefner: Back in July, Hugh Hefner was also the victim of a celebrity death hoax.