Jeff Goldblum Dead Hoax 2012: Actor 'Died' In New Zealand, Newest Hoax Target
Actor Jeff Goldblum died while filming a movie in New Zealand early on Oct. 3, at around 4 a.m. Reports from New Zealand officials indicated that Goldblum fell more than 60 feet to his death on the Kauri Cliffs while on-set for an upcoming film.
This story is the recent death hoax circulating on the web.
Goldblum's "death" follows shortly after Vince Vaughn and Morgan Freedman were killed off by death hoaxes, stemming from the site GlobalAssociatedNews.com.
On the site, they post on the bottom of their articles, "FAKE... THIS STORY IS 100% FAKE! this is an entertainment website, and this is a totally fake article based on zero truth and is a complete work of fiction for entertainment purposes!"
Other celebrities to suffer the same fate or involved in death hoaxes include Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Russell Brand. Witherspoon was stabbed to death and Eddie Murphy was killed while snowboarding in Switzerland, according to the hoaxes.
The reason to create these death hoaxes is for sites to attract buzz and raise their number of "clicks" or hits.
The Inquisitor reported "Five Ways To Spot A Fake Death Report," No. 1 being based on where the story originated from. Global Associated News has a "death hoax generator" that allows any user to type in a celebrity's name, pick a story, and send out a death hoax report, according to the site.
They also reported that the "generator" only has six stories that it carries, so many of the reports claim the celebrities died the same way. Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey and Brand all had a fake death from a skiing accident. So a safe conclusion to make is if the report is coming from Associated News it is probably unreliable and fabricated.
In September, the site The Onion stated that Bill Nye, best known from his children's television show in the 1990s, "Billy Nye The Science Guy," was killed in a balloon accident - another death hoax. However, Bye then used his newly-found fame to advocate about his opposition to the teaching of creationism in schools, according to the International Business Times.
He called the notoriety "fun."
