The YouTube video titled “ Ricky Martin dead in tragic accident New Years day ,” featuring what looks like a horrific car accident that shows a body being thrown from a car, is causing folks to wonder if superstar singer Ricky Martin is actually dead. Published on January 3, 2015, the YouTube video contains a description that would lead fans to believe Martin was unfortunately killed in a car crash. Therefore, be warned about the graphic nature of the above linked-to video prior to watching. Posted on a YouTube account named “Shocking and Upcoming,” the video claiming Ricky Martin died has received more than 175,000 views within 20 hours.
“Report says: Multi-platinum artist Enrique Martin Morales, known by the stage name Ricky Martin died at 4:30 pm eastern time while driving his BMW CONVERTIBLE CAR on a freeway in Los Angeles, CA.”
However, the official Twitter page of Ricky Martin has responded to these death hoax rumors with a funny and sweet reply.
“Hello from ?#heaven .”
Ricky Martin led his Twitter followers to an Instagram photo on the Ricky Martin Instagram account that shows a picturesque scene of a beach, letting his followers and fans know that he is not, in fact, dead. As if to verify that he is indeed not dead, the ricky_martin Instagram account also posted another update that actually shows Martin staring off at a sunset four hours ago, with the hashtag “#Sunset in #heaven” to further enforce the news that he is not dead.
The false news portal parody is being debunked, with Spanish-language websites reporting that Ricky Martin is alive and well and tweeting ironic photos about Martin being okay.
As reported by the Inquisitr , Ricky Martin is known for tweeting shocking things in the past, like when the “She Bangs” singer posted on Twitter that education was like an erection.
Fans may wonder why folks create false YouTube videos or stories about celebrities dying in tragic ways when they aren’t true. Many times it’s because of the attention and hits that a YouTube video or website can draw when a story about Ricky Martin’s false death goes viral. YouTube and other websites pay advertising revenue shares, and therefore users have monetary motivation to create fake stories that may receive millions of hits or video views in the long run, which could translate into lots of money for the person creating the story.
Fortunately, fans of Ricky Martin can rest assured that the singer appears alive and well and enjoying a tropical vacation, somewhere that he dubs heaven.
[Image via Ricky Martin Instagram]