It is true that news of Lil Tay’s death took the world by storm, especially given her colorful and controversial past. However, people breathed a sigh of relief after the shocking revelation that her passing was, in fact, a hoax. This incident is just another example of how people fall prey to rumors ignited by the internet and how it has made celebrity death hoaxes a bizarrely common phenomenon.
Many renowned names from the industry have been a part of this curiously macabre club that has hoodwinked their heartbroken fans for years now, but the false rumors concerning Lil Tay’s death have only heightened popular interest to revisit similar incidents of celebrity death hoaxes. Here’s a list of 10 celebrities who have miraculously come back from the dead.
Tom Cruise
In 2010, rumors circulated that the actor was killed in a plumbing incident in New Zealand. However, the Mission Impossible star laughed off his fake death reports. In an interview with MTV.com, he quelled the fake news saying, “No, I’m not. I’m a hologram! I’m really alive. Did the internet get it wrong again? You can send the message out (I am still alive).”
Rihanna
Pop star Rihanna was subjected to fake death news when a Facebook page named R.I.P Rihanna began to attract attention in 2014 from causing distress among the singer’s millions of fans. It was said that the singer died after being raped.
Condolences poured in from the fans even though many suspected the information. However, the singer’s representative confirmed that she is “alive and well.” As of now, the “Umbrella” singer hasn’t commented on the news of her fake, and the informant of the false report remains unknown.
Miley Cyrus
Another popular celebrity whose death was a hoax is Miley Cyrus. On July 19, 2014, a piece of news circulated that the “Wrecking Ball” singer died in her Los Angeles home after the singer’s photo showing which showed her overdosing became viral. Turned out that the picture was a snap from the music video, “Blonde SuperFreak Steals the Magic Brain.”
As usual, the information was revealed to be incorrect with MTV Australia calling it a strategy for people to click through and earn money. The singer’s hospitalization in April followed by her brief absence from social media fueled the speculations. Later, Cyrus dismissed the whole incident as “funny.”
Paul McCartney
Almost everyone is aware of the “Paul is Dead” conspiracy theory during the heydays of The Beatles. Discussions around McCartney’s real identity have been going on for decades now. The old conspiracy theory goes that the true Paul McCartney died long back in the early 1960s and the singer we think of as McCartney is an imposter who replaced the original singer.
McCartney has obviously denied these rumors on various occasions and even confirmed this in an interview with BBC saying, “If conclusion you reach is that I’m dead, then you’re wrong, because I’m alive and living in Scotland.”
Beyonce
On the list of people who died and came back alive is also the pop icon Beyonce. In 2015, rumors circulated on Twitter that the “Drunk in Love” songstress died in a fatal car crash causing the trend #RIPBeyonce. The following year, the singer was once again declared dead due to excessive bleeding. The truth which was revealed later is that the singer suffered a minor cut on her ear during a performance and was very much alive and fit.
George Clooney
George Clooney, as we all know, is fine, alive, and living his best life (even returning as Batman in The Flash), but it was not long ago when rumors about his fake death became public knowledge. In 2011, it was said that the actor died while filming in New Zealand. As a result, internet and Google searches were populated with phrases like, “George Clooney death” and “George Clooney dies” only for them to get refuted later.
Justin Bieber
The “Sorry” singer fell victim to a social media prank when he was falsely pronounced dead a few months back. An article posted on March 5, 2023, mentioned that Bieber died in a car crash when he was driving at a speed of 100mph. Thankfully, the report was proved false after the singer made a public appearance the very same day.
Matt Damon
When Matt Damon’s death rumors circulated in 2009, the actor spoke out against the fake news. The Jason Bourne star blamed the press for the erroneous information that he had supposedly died during a mountain hike in California.
Speaking on the subject, he blamed the media’s inability to grasp authentic news, saying “My publicist got all of these phone calls from very reputable sources. I got forwarded the story, which, if you read it, it just gets sillier and sillier, and, by the end, the guy who’s said to be my agent is quoting the lyrics to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Brad Pitt
Yet another one of the industry’s biggest stars failed to escape a fake death. In 2016, a Facebook page circulated the message that Pitt died by suicide following his divorce from Angelina Jolie. Of course, the information, much like every other death hoax announcement, wasn’t backed by any concrete evidence and it was later confirmed that it was a fake page where false information was added to gain publicity.
Lil Tay
A rundown of the most notorious celebrity hoaxes would be incomplete without mentioning Lil Tay. Tay is a Canadian social influencer who achieved fame back in 2018 for posting pictures of her lavish lifestyle alongside cars and houses as well as videos of hurling racial slurs which earned her immense public disapproval.
On Wednesday, a statement assumed to have been made by her family on her Instagram page pronounced her and her brother dead, sparking concerns and sadness from her fans.
To everyone’s shock, the 14-year-old influencer released a statement on Thursday denying the false information and alleging that her account was used by an anonymous third party to spread ‘misinformation.’ “I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive, but I’m completely heartbroken, and struggling to even find the right words to say. It’s been a very traumatizing 24 hours,” said from the very much alive Lil Tay.