Macaulay Culkin Dead: Facebook Hoax Claims Troubled Actor Found Dead

Macaulay Culkin is not dead, but a hoax story making the rounds on the internet about the troubled actor claims otherwise.

In the past day a page claiming that Culkin had died circulated on Facebook, prompting many users to share condolences and prayers for his family. Some others publicly doubted the credibility of the post.

“At about 11 a.m. ET on Sunday (April 20, 2014), our beloved actor Macaulay Culkin passed away,” the report claimed. “Macaulay Culkin was born on August 26, 1980 in New York. He will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.”

The hoax gained enough traction that a representative for Culkin released a statement confirming that the actor is alive and well.

Culkin joins a long list of celebrities who have been the subject of death hoaxes. Others include Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, and Alfonso Ribiero.

But the story about Macaulay Culkin being dead seems to have at least some basis in reality. In 2012 reports emerged that the actor was in a downward spiral of drug abuse, with friends saying they thought he could die within months.

A report from the National Enquirer claimed that Macaulay Culkin was spending $6,000 a month on painkillers and has turned his Manhattan apartment into a “private drug den.”

“He’s addicted to heroin, oxycodone, Percocet and Vicodin. I have witnessed his drug taking, which has escalated over the past year and a half to the point where he needs serious help,” a source said.

But the actor has reportedly since recovered, and has even taken his career to a new level with a pizza-themes Velvet Underground cover band, which recently pefrormed in Boston.

There are still many who believe the hoax, however. The Facebook page claiming that Macaulay Culkin was dead gathered more than 1 million “likes.”