Most Shocking Celebrity Death Hoaxes So Far: Josh Seiter, Britney Spears & More

By:

Elisabeth McGowan

September 5, 2023 1:34PM EDT

From Josh Seiter to Lil Tay to Britney Spears, celebrities across Hollywood have been subjected to false death announcements.

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Lil Tay, Josh Seiter & More: The Most Shocking Celebrity Death Hoaxes

Lil Tay, Josh Seiter & More: The Most Shocking Celebrity Death Hoaxes — It goes without saying that fame comes with a downside. Long before social media took over the internet, several celebrities became the subjects of death hoaxes. From actors to musicians, quite a few famous faces found themselves in the wrong kind of spotlight and had to clarify that they were, in fact, alive despite death rumors. Now, however, some of our biggest idols have faced the wrath of social media hackers, who led their fans to believe that they were deceased.

Teenage TikTok influencer Lil Tay and The Bachelorette alum Josh Seiter were back-to-back cases of hoaxes over the summer of 2023. Both claimed their Instagram accounts got hacked and confirmed they were alive and well.

Click through the gallery to relive some of the most shocking celebrity death hoaxes to date!

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Josh Seiter

Josh Seiter — In August 2023, the former Bachelorette contestant’s Instagram account alleged that he had died. Less than a day later, Josh deleted the announcement and posted a separate video.

“As you can see, I am alive and well,” he confirmed. “My account was hacked. For the last 24 hours, I’ve been trying desperately to get into it. Somebody was playing a cruel joke and mocking my mental illness and the struggles I’ve gone through with depression and suicide attempts.”

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Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise — In 2010, the Mission Impossible star was rumored to have died in a plumbing accident, but Tom laughed off the rumor by telling MTV, “I’m really alive. Did the internet get it wrong again? You can send the message out.”

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Britney Spears

Britney Spears — In 2001, both Britney Spears and her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake were the subject of a death hoax. Two DJs claimed the musicians died in a car accident, but Justin was quick to squash the rumors.

“The first thing I did was call Britney,” Justin told ABC News that year. “Since the beginning, [when] people knew about our relationship, there’s always been things that have been said that were totally not true, but this just, like, took it to a whole other planet.”

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Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne — In mid-2003, rumors swirled that the “Girlfriend” artist died by suicide. More than a decade later, the allegations arose after fans speculated that Avril had a celebrity look-alike named Melissa Vandella, who had replaced the pop star. In 2019, Avril responded to the rumors during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

“It’s just a dumb internet rumor and [I’m] flabbergasted that people bought into it,” she said. “Isn’t that so weird?”

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Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres — In August and September 2023, social media users claimed the former talk show host had died, implementing the hashtag #RIPEllen in their Twitter posts. However, Ellen DeGeneres is still very much alive, despite the false statement.

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