Hopping online to see Denzel Washington trending made us feel quite a lot of things. After all, the meme is that every time a celebrity trends, it’s because they either said something offensive or were dead.
Clicking on the hashtag took us to many Twitter/ X posts saying that the “Malcolm X” actor had passed away. There were a lot of tributes and condolences from fans.
But is this news accurate?
As of November 27, 2023, actor Denzel Washington isn’t dead. There has been no official confirmation from Denzel Washington, his family, or his team. The fake news of his death was spread by a ‘R.I.P. Denzel Washington’ Facebook page. But it has been confirmed to be a hoax.
Has Denzel Washington Passed Away?
There has been no official confirmation about his death from Denzel Washington, his family, or his team. So, this is again another death hoax that has become increasingly popular over the years.
As per the Mediamass site, the first news of actor Denzel Washington being reported dead was traced back to a ‘R.I.P. Denzel Washington’ Facebook page.
The About section of the now-deleted page wrote:
“At about 11 a.m. ET on Saturday (November 25, 2023), our beloved actor Denzel Washington passed away. Denzel Washington was born on December 28, 1954 in Mount Vernon. He will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.”
The news is reported to have garnered about a million likes. Soon enough, people began conveying condolences and wrote tributes to the actor’s life and career.
Thankfully, not everyone believed the news.
Many cast doubt on the Facebook page. They asked- why there was just one unknown page reporting it as exclusive and demanding likes on their page. Why weren’t credible news channels reporting anything?
This isn’t the first time suck prank hoaxes about Washington have circulated online. A few years ago, IB Times reported similar rumors.
Back then, a site called Global Associated News had published that Denzel had passed away after a fatal snowboarding accident while vacationing at the Zermatt ski resort in Zermatt, Switzerland.
Obviously, that also turned out to be fake since no other reputed news channel reported on it.
Denzel Washington isn’t the first celebrity to be hit with such death hoaxes. Personalities like Shakira, Michael J. Fox, former president Jimmy Carter, Mark Ruffalo, and popular Twitch streamer Forsen were targeted recently by similar pranksters.
The aim of these celebrity fake death hoaxes is probably to rile up the fanbases of high-profile celebrities to create mass hysteria so that they can get clicks and more views on their pages and sites.
Plenty of people have raised their voices to stop such prank sites from causing emotional distress to fans of high-profile people. However, nothing has been done till now.
Do you think anything can be done to stop the rampant fake death hoaxes of celebrities? Or will it continue unabated?
Let us know your thoughts and opinions on this in the comments below.
Source: IB Times
