Sylvester Stallone death hoax 'sick and demented', says actor's brother

Sylvester Stallone's brother has condemned those behind the actor's recent death hoax as "sick and demented".

Rumours began to spread Monday morning that Stallone had passed away following a battle with prostate cancer, with claims he had kept the illness a secret. The posts were often accompanied by images of the actor looking ashen, and having lost a large amount of hair. However, these images are reportedly from the filming of Creed 2, as his character Rocky Balboa revealed a diagnosis of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the first film.

With Stallone having already been the target of a death hoax on Facebook in 2016, the actor this time decided to directly address the reports on his Instagram, writing: "Please ignore this stupidity... Alive and well and happy and healthy... still punching!"

His brother, Frank Stallone, however, took to Twitter for a furious condemnation of the perpetrators. "Rumours that my brother is dead are false," he wrote. "What kind of sick demented cruel mind thinks of things like this to post? People like this are mentally deranged and don't deserve a place in society."

Continuing on Instagram, he added: "This picture was posted of my brother by the low life who said he was dead. This photo is from the make up trailer on the set of Creed. Who raised these cretans [sic] anyway that they would find humour in someone's passing? This person @rockybalboa should be thrown off social media and locked up!"

Michael B. Jordan has stated that Creed 2 will begin filming in the next few months, with Stallone hinting on Instagram that he is currently prepping for the production.

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