Morgan Freeman's Death; 'Victimized' By Frequent Death Hoax Rumors, Rep Says
Morgan Freemans' death continues to be the result of an unfunny celebrity death hoax rumor. The actor is not dead...again. Morgan Freemans' death rumors are nothing new to social media users. He has been killed on the Internet several times. Most recently, Freeman's rep confirmed to E! Online that the "Through the Wormhole" host is "victimized" by these frequent "killings" on social media.
"Morgan is alive and well, and joins the long list of actors who have been victimized by this hoax. He's still alive and well, stop believing what you see on the Internet," they said.
While many celebrities have been "killed" via Facebook RIP pages or Twitter trends, Morgan Freeman joins Eddie Murphy and Jackie Chan who have been claimed dead many, many times.
Bill Cosby was also targeted recently for at least the 5th time.
In 2010, Twitter and Facebook declared news of Cosby's death. The comedian called into to "Larry King Live" to talk about his alleged passing that was only true on Twitter.
"I don't want to do this anymore, because this is my fourth time being reported [dead]," he said.
"Emotional friends have called about this misinformation," Cosby posted on his own Twitter account. "To the people behind the foolishness, I'm not sure you see how upsetting this is."
Celebrity death hoaxes have become increasingly popular over recent months, and numerous websites have attempted to "kill off" famous celebrities in the hopes of gaining attention to their claims.
Last week Eddie Murphy was reported as dead by Global Associated News - a website which has now become notorious for faking death claims of the rich and famous.
According to the GAN: "The actor & novice snowboarder was vacationing at the Zermatt ski resort in Zermatt, Switzerland with family and friends. Witnesses indicate that Eddie Murphy lost control of his snowboard and struck a tree at a high rate of speed."
That fake report also sparked a wave of concerned fans to take to social media sites discussing the death.
However, for the eagle eyed readers there was a disclaimer contained at the bottom of the GAN article explaining that the story was completely fake and fabricated for "entertainment purposes."
Other fake celebrity deaths recently have been Bill Cosby, who said it was "not funny," as well as Rihanna, and British actor Robert Pattinson.
Freeman is one of Hollywood's most successful stars, both commercially and critically. His films have grossed a total of more than $5 billion worldwide and $3 billion in the U.S., and his more than 60 movies average about $64 million per film at the box office.
His performances have also reached near universal acclaim in hits like "Driving Miss Daisy," "The Shawshank Redemption," "Million Dollar Baby" and "Invictus."
Freeman is also known for his immediately recognizable voice, which has led to his narrating many film projects, including "War of the Worlds" and "March of the Penguins," as well as the current Discovery channel TV show "Through the Wormhole."
