From Quentin Tarantino to Queen Latifah, celebrities keep being accused of dying by the internet.
Bruce Willis is alive and well, his representatives confirmed over the weekend, as rumours of his passing circulated the internet.
The Die Hard and Pulp Fiction star has been battling frontotemporal dementia (FTD) since early 2023, when his wife Emma Heming Willis publicly shared the diagnosis.
His condition remains stable, though slowly declining but not as fast as the internet would have you believe.
He now joins a growing list of celebrities victimised by death hoaxes.
Thanks to the proliferation of AI, the internet has been able to generate convincing hospital bed photos and news reports of celebrity deaths at alarming rates.
Just last week, a Facebook post appeared to share intimate details of Queen Latifah’s declining health, complete with an AI-generated image of her in a hospital bed, crying.
The Facebook commenters were quick to share scripture passages and prayers, without realising the numerous medical inaccuracies in the post.
Latifah took to Instagram twice to dispel the rumours, reminding viewers to not believe everything on the internet. She thanked fans for their outpouring of support, but had to convince them it really was fake and she was, in fact, alive.
Then there were the rumours that Quentin Tarantino had died in a missile strike against Israel last week.
AI-generated images of Tarantino hiding in bomb shelters flooded the internet, leaving gullible fans shocked.
A representative confirmed to TMZ that Tarantino is “alive and well.”
Bruce Willis enters his third year of battling FTD, his wife taking care of him. In a recent podcast, she confirmed he “is still very much present in his body” and still recognises his wife and family.
Whilst taking care of him, she says their love has only grown.
Willis celebrates his 71st birthday next week the 19th of March.
