8 times celebs responded to news of their own death

From Digital Spy

Celebrity death hoaxes are such an intrinsic part of internet culture that every time an iconic star passes away, our first instinct isn't necessarily to mourn, but to double-check the source (as you can imagine, we did a lot of source checking in 2016).

Very occasionally, the stars themselves will pop up to debunk the reports of their own deaths, via responses that usually have a mixture of amusement, bemusement and annoyance. Here are our absolute favourite examples...

1. Norman Reedus

Poor old Norman Reedus, people are so obsessed with his Walking Dead character's demise (all together now - "If Daryl dies, we riot!") that the bleak focus can occasionally bleed into the real world. At least, we assume that's what's happening - it's the best explanation for the astonishing four death hoaxes the actor suffered in 2014.

Brilliantly, Reedus didn't respond to each hoax individually, instead denying them all in one time-saving end-of-year tweet - finding enough character space to include season's greetings AND take a snipe at the media, the Twitter equivalent of shooting a zombie with a crossbow, pulling out the arrow, and using it to take down two more.

2. The Rock

Action icon Dwayne Johnson hasn't had to debunk too many death hoaxes during his epic career, possibly because his Twitter response to 2011 rumours was so strong / intense.

We don't know about you, but the thought of The Rock's foot (dead or alive) targeting our posteriors makes us think EVEN MORE carefully about RTing any RIP announcements, let alone writing one.

Also, there's the fact we're pretty sure he's immortal. Though there's a chance we watched The Scorpion King one too many times when we were young.

3. Zach Braff

In 2009, Scrubs star Zach Braff took celebrity death hoax denials to the next level. Anyone can pen a pithy tweet, but Braff decided to film a chucklesome video response, potentially inventing the concept of YouTubers in the process (though, probably not - we're too busy to Google it).

"I'm alive," Zack told his YouTube audience. "I'm here at Scrubs shooting the new Scrubs title sequence which is a little bit like dying, so I guess that was semi-accurate. Also, I would never off myself with pills. If I had to do it, I would do it the way that everyone else would do it - by hitting myself with pots and pans."

We're not entirely sure what he meant by that last bit - was there a spate of kitchenware-related deaths in 2009? (Again, too busy to Google, sorry).

4. Miley Cyrus

Fake pregnancies, made-up break-ups, false deaths… Poor old Miley is a frequent target for social media rumours / post-truth headlines. So, in 2014, when Cyrus hadn't posted anything on her social accounts for a few days, scammers decided to pounce, announcing she'd been found dead in her LA home.

Her response was possibly the most Miley move ever - hitting Insta to post a topless picture, in the desert, with her hands / fingers in the air. We're not sure if those fingers were an insult to her haters, or a peace symbol to her supporters, but the fact the image works on both levels makes it close to genius.

5. Morgan Freeman

In a death hoax response that could only be improved if he'd read it aloud (but let's face it, all death hoax responses could be improved if Morgan Freeman read them aloud), Freeman managed to make a statement that referenced Mark Twain, confirm his living status AND promote his upcoming movie.

"Like Mark Twain, I keep reading that I have died.

I hope those stories are not true... But if they are, I'm happy to report that my afterlife seems identical to my life when I was alive.

I did go to Las Vegas to begin work on the film Last Vegas.

That is anything but a death sentence."

The only downside was that, when Last Vegas was eventually released, most critics seemed to find it a fate worse than death. Still, at least Morgan had a nice time making it.

6. Mara Wilson

Child star Mara Wilson first found fame as Robin Williams' impossibly adorable daughter Nattie in Mrs Doubtfire (1993), going on to star in Miracle On 34th Street (1994) and Matilda (1996).

Despite retiring from film acting in 2000, Mara's maintained a media presence, via a successful writing career and one of the best Twitter accounts out there.

But, for a lot of people, Mara did seem to suddenly drop off the radar - which could explain why clickbait sites seem to thrive on posting frequent death hoaxes about the star.

Early in 2016, Wilson had clearly had enough - posting a typically witty response to (presumably) all the people who regularly let her know they've seen yet another article announcing her death.

7. Russell Brand

Presenter / comedian / actor / political activist Russell Brand was alleged to have added 'icicle' to his varied CV in 2012, when fake reports claimed he'd died in a skiing accident, after consuming a cocktail of drink and drugs.

Dedicated teetotaller Brand was as surprised as we were, taking to Twitter to give us an insight into what his priorities would be if he was faced with a one-way trip to the afterlife.

8. Jeff Goldblum

If you believe everything you read on the internet, acting legend Jeff Goldblum died in 2009, after falling off a cliff in New Zealand. Luckily for us, he didn't - and he responded to the false reporting in the best possible way, by going on a TV show hosted by a fake reporter.

A few days after his 'death', Goldblum popped up on Stephen Colbert's Comedy Central show, to interrupt the host's pretend-coverage of the event.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt my friend Stephen, but look, I'm not dead. In fact, last week I was not even in New Zealand!"

When Colbert refused to believe him, informing Goldblum that New Zealand police had issued a confirmation, the actor delivered a (very funny) eulogy:

"No one will miss Jeff Goldblum more than me. He was not only a friend and a mentor, but he was also... me."

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