Russell Crowe is of the latest high profile people to be the victim of those dreaded celebrity Internet death hoaxes. According to LiveStreetJournal, the star is alive, even though he “reportedly” died in Kitzbühel, Austria, by falling off a mountain. Celebrity Internet death hoaxes are the unfortunate byproduct of the technology that’s available for the masses. Spreading news about people gets around so fast and rampantly that, combined with people who like to be troublemakers, abuse exists.
Celebrity Internet Death Hoaxes: Rick Astley’s Was the Most Surprising
Last summer, pop singer Rick Astley was the victim of such rumors, according to the New York Daily News. This man had some big hits during the 1980s with songs like Never Gonna Give You Up, Together Forever, It Would Take a Strong Strong Man, and She Wants to Dance with Me. His songs were a part of my young adulthood, which I heard often on the radio, especially while at work in a video store in the late 1980s. In 1991, he crooned out one of the most sensitive-sounding (and even a bit tear-jerking) tunes called Cry for Help, according to his Wikipedia discography.
I recall surfing the net and seeing in Google Trends for June 29, 2009, the words “rick astley dead.” Granted, this isn’t the most famous or influential man in the world currently, but my reaction was one of shock. When I did some more research and found out that he wasn’t dead, I felt really duped. I get tired of low-lifes using the internet to spread celebrity Internet death hoaxes. When supposedly respectable news organizations don’t do their homework and report that a high profile person has died, it’s even more annoying. What happens if loved ones of these people are watching TV or surfing the net, like Russell Crowe’s family, and read or hear about such celebrity Internet death hoaxes, how do you think they feel?
Enough celebrities are dying in reality, so why some people get their jollies from spreading lies is beyond me. When I read such items like “so and so dead” on the internet at Google Trends, I’m very skeptical. The more high profile the star, the less likely I even consider believing it initially. It’s best to follow up via several sources, including the major news websites and channels before drawing any conclusions about Russell Crowe, Rick Astley, etc.
Sources for this article about celebrity internet death hoaxes:
Russell Crowe is not dead !: http://www.livestreetjournal.net/entertaniment/russell-crowe-is-not-dead.html, June 10, 2010, LiveStreetJournal
Lauren Johnston, Michael Sheridan – Singer Rick Astley is not dead, but victim of latest Internet celebrity death hoax: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/06/25/2009-06-25_jeff_goldblum_harrison_ford_dead_fake_news_stories_make_dire_claims.html#ixzz0qTwVZWmQ, June 30, 2009, NY Daily News
Rick Astley discography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Astley_discography, Wikipedia
