Piers Morgan takes to Twitter to hit out at death hoax trolls

Piers Morgan has taken to social media to hit out at “pranksters” who have been spreading rumours he has died.

The Good Morning Britain star told how he had become the subject of a sinister practical joke in which trolls attempted to get Morgan’s celebrity friends to film tributes for his obituary.

However, the 55-year-old’s fiery tweet will assure fans and followers there is nothing wrong with his health.

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He said on Friday: “To the pranksters currently contacting all my famous friends asking them to tape a contribution to my obituary for ITN... maybe stop being annoying little d***heads?”

Morgan has proven a divisive figure in recent months, using his platform to regularly criticise the government for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The tweet to Morgan’s six million followers had plenty of responses - many showing both sides of how he is perceived by the public.

One fan commented: “Piers Morgan, he's had the balls to tell the truth and stand up to this absolutely shocking government.. Well done Piers.”

One follower, obviously not a fan of the presenter, responded: “Obituaries detail a person’s contributions in life, and their impact on the world around them. No offence but I don't think yours will be very long.”

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Death hoaxes seem to be part and parcel for many in the public eye.

Back in June MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis was forced to address rumours he had died after getting messages from concerned pals.

Addressing the hoax on Twitter, he said: “Disgusting scum. I've already had upset messages from friends today who've seen this scam advert trading (wrongly obviously) on the fact I've died.”

The tweet included an advert on the Guardian website, which showed his picture with caption: “Farewell Martin Lewis. The UK is in shock.”

Lewis added: “Sadly, this disgusting scam ad is on many legit websites incl newspapers. Clearly I'm not dead. It links to a fake daily mirror site to push bitcoin trader (which isn't bitcoin, it's just a scam). If you see it pls report it to the site provider. I'm reporting to ad networks.”

One of the best-known celebrity death hoaxes dates back to the 1960s when some Beatles fans became convinced Paul McCartney had died in a car crash and was replaced with a convincing lookalike.