Louie Anderson dead and other Internet hoaxes

June 26, 4:54 PMUS Headlines ExaminerCharisse Van Horn

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Yesterday the world lost two great pop-culture icons, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. While the world was reeling with the shock, Internet hoaxes resurfaced, stating first that Jeff Goldblum had died. Immediately following those rumors, the latest buzz was that Harrison Ford had died as well. Today, it’s Louie Anderson. The ‘Louie Anderson dead’ rumor isn’t new; it’s an Internet hoax that has circulated for years. Rest assured, Louie Anderson is still alive.

Internet hoaxes are commonly referred to as urban myths or legends. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly urban myths and legends spread like wildfire across the Internet, taking many unsuspecting yet well meaning Email forwarders with them. From donations being collected for lost children or victims of dire circumstances, to Bill Gates giving away oodles of Microsoft funds, Internet hoaxes are prevalent. The stories have existed for decades and circulated well before the popularity of the Internet. One early urban myth that had circulated during the 1980’s was that Mikey from “He likes it, hey Mikey” cereal fame had blown up after eating a package of pop rocks. Urban myths and legends have always been around, the Internet just propels them to multitudes in the split second of a mouse click.

The “Louie Anderson dead” myth has circulated for many years. It is recommended that any time you receive an Email that states someone has passed away, or that you will receive funds if you forward an Email to ten people, or donations are being collected for a missing child or victim of a serious accident to verify the source. Snopes is an excellent resource where you can easily verify the status of many Emails and urban myths and legends.

Snopes has a search tool that will let you submit your query, such as “Jeff Goldblum dead”; “Harrison Ford dead”; or “Louie Anderson dead”. The results will let you know whether or not the story is true or false and will give you full details regarding the status of the claim. Often you’ll find the same Email or clip you read online posted on the Snopes website.

More Information:

Snopes

Louie Anderson