Earlier this morning John Witherspoon, a 70-year-old veteran actor, was killed on Twitter . (Don’t worry, it was just another death hoax.) But with the word “dead” and “witherspoon” floating around the social networking site, eventually people put two and two together and came up to the conclusion that Reese Witherspoon is dead!
But she’s not. She’s alive. So don’t worry.
Reese Witherspoon has been killed off on the internet a few times before, and it always seems to be the same story. Social Networking sites love to kill off Eddie Murphy in a snowboarding accident ( it’s happened three times this year ), and, for Reese, well, her story’s a little more gruesome. According to Web Pro News , Witherspoon’s death hoax rumors typically claim that she was stabbed to death.
According to LaLate , one report read:
“Reese Witherspoon was stabbed to death today. She died on August 10, 2012, at the age of 36… The news has left the world shocked and saddened” asserts the fabricated story. As one fan wrote “I would believe this, except it’s August 8th today.”
According to the blog, the death report was published on August 8, which means that someone has either built a time machine, can tell the future, or is making the entire thing up.
If you put two and two together, you can only come to one conclusion: Reese Witherspoon is not dead!
If Reese Witherspoon is actually dead I will sob for days on end. # Noooo
— Our Lovely Duchess (@OurLovelyDofC) August 9, 2012
can’t believe reese witherspoon is actually dead, my god..
— suzanne, wby??? (@ilovetea_x) August 9, 2012
Omg Reese Witherspoon is dead????!!!!
— Jaime Dai (@omgjams) August 9, 2012
Why would someone create a fake death rumor? Well, in this case, it kind of leads to a great joke.
Person 1: “Did you here Reese whatshername was stabbed to death?”
Person 2: “Witherspoon?”
Person 1: “No, with a knife.”