
According to online banter, rapper Kanye West died in a violent car accident on Tuesday.
The truth? Kanye is alive and was apparently not involved in a car accident at all. The Grammy-winning artist is just the latest celebrity to be punked by false death rumors. With Twitter’s ability to spread the word – false or true – such rumors now spread worldwide in just moments.
It is not known exactly where or with whom the rumor started, however, the image board of 4chan.org was being pointed at by some as the source of the fake report that West had died in an automobile crash in Los Angeles and that another driver involved in the wreck had been charged with vehicular manslaughter.
While the official spokesperson for West was not able to be reached for comment, the rap artist’s girlfriend, Amber Rose, a model, tweeted, “This RIP Kanye West topic is not funny and it’s NOT TRUE! He has people like myself and his family that love him very much… It’s in extreme poor taste to have that as trendy topic. It’s totally disrespectful to make up a story like this…”
West’s false death reports are merely the latest hoaxes to spin out of control on the Internet this year. Other celebrities plagued by similar rumors include Matt Damon, Natalie Portman, Lil Wayne and Miley Cyrus.