Rumors spread like wildfire Monday evening that Jon Bon Jovi died after a heart attack earlier in the day. Several sites have debunked the rumor, which primarily took over Twitter and ran rampant across the Internet. As the story grew legs, Jon himself got into the mix and seemed to have a sense of humor about it. Nothing shoots down a celebrity death hoax better than a new photo of the star himself, right?
Monday evening, David Bergman posted a shot of Jon Bon Jovi to his Twitter page. He wrote, “I happened to be with Jon Bon Jovi when we heard rumors of his death. He’s alive and well and I shot this to prove it.” The photo shows Jon standing in front of a Christmas tree holding a piece of paper where he wrote “Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey. Dec 19, 2011, 6:00.”
There have been quite a few celebrity death hoaxes lately, though this one seemed to take off and explode to a degree far greater than most others. The rumor was that Jon Bon Jovi had been found in a hotel room in a coma, and died at the hospital after he went into cardiac arrest. Obviously, based on the picture of Jon, that is complete bunk.
Others who have experienced similar social media hoaxes of late include Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Eddie Murphy and Scott Baio. Within a few days, it’ll be somebody else. While the origins of this one have remained a mystery, there seems to be no shortage of pranksters who get a kick out of starting these things, despite the stress it causes for the fans, friends and family of those rumored to be dead.
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