Celebrity death hoaxes have been a thing for several years. The dissemination of false information about famous people passing away has managed to gather many victims, such as Beyoncé, James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, and, most recently, Steve Harvey.
The “Family Feud” host was targeted earlier this week after becoming the victim of a mixup over a death announcement on Twitter concerning someone else.
A popular Kentucky sports fanatic named Harvey recently passed away, causing many of his fans to create #RIPHarvey. However, things took a quick turn when the hashtag became a trending topic and scared people into believing that it was the philanthropist who had transitioned.
Many social media users rushed to Twitter to check the news, and some were even gullible enough to believe it.
“I stopped dead in my tracks reading the trending topics and thought h–l no what happened to Steve Harvey #RIPHarvey.”
“Twitter ain’t ever specific with 90% of their RIP’s. Got me thinking that Steve Harvey done gone to glory with that #RIPHarvey trending.”
“Why tf I just looked on trending and I See #RIPHarvey ? My heart jumped thinking Steve Harvey died.”
The beloved comedian also addressed the rumor about his unexpected fate in the form of a comical tweet that poked fun at the viral hashtag.
“Me seeing that Rip Harvey is trending,” he wrote. Harvey then added a popular meme of himself sitting in a chair while looking at his phone.
Several social media users quickly gathered under his tweet and thanked him for clearing up the confusion.
“Thank you for proving this was not you bc I clicked that trend with an internal panic.”
“Scared the h–l out of me! I love you, man.”
When it comes to celebrity death hoaxes, many notable names have fallen victim. Just recently, Grammy winner Angie Stone clapped back at haters who decided to start the “nasty” rumor that she had died.
In a lengthy video shared on her Instagram, Stone revealed that she would be taking legal action against those who brought the negative information to life.
A few months ago, Angela Bassett’s son, Slater Vance, faced public scrutiny for pranking his mother into believing that her “Black Panther” co-star Michael B. Jordan had passed away.
The inappropriate joke was part of a larger trend on TikTok when social media users pranked their parents with false claims of celebrity deaths.
