INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Jaden Smith: The Death Hoax That Just Won’t Die And How It’s Helping His Career [Video]

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 12:55 PST, Sep 12, 2016

Jaden Smith, despite being cruelly killed off over and over again this summer, is still alive and well. Thriving even, if the state of his career and his recent public displays of affection are any indication. Indeed, Jaden Smith is seemingly the boy wonder who has it all. So why does the Internet keep trying to kill him off?

First, a little background. Jaden Smith has been targeted repeatedly by death hoaxes, something that started when he was just a young teen. This summer, however, the Jaden Smith death hoax phenomenon really blew up. Jaden, now 18-years-old, has been targeted by one death and/or suicide rumor after another all summer long. And the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

Fans and critics of Jaden Smith have faced constant bombardments of the news of their social media idol’s death. Reportedly, young Jaden has a habit of killing himself every couple of weeks or so. His efforts are successful, according to the death hoax perpetrators, but somehow he is reborn to share pics on Twitter only to commit suicide again. It’s been a pretty steady formula during the summer of 2016, and it’s done a good job of keeping Jaden Smith’s name and career in the spotlight.

As The Mirror reports, the Jaden Smith death hoax is a pretty sophisticated system, which is likely why it’s been so successful and become so widespread. Working somewhat like a virus, the Jaden Smith hoax begins with a link announcing Jaden’s tragic, untimely death. When social media users click on the link, they are asked for permission to post on their page. Most of the time, the permission is granted, and afterward, the Jaden Smith death story starts showing up on their news feed and is visible to their friends and followers. In turn, those people click on the Jaden Smith death hoax link and the whole thing snowballs.

The biggest issue with the Jaden Smith death hoax is that it seems to be everywhere. Just when users think that they’ve discovered that the news of Jaden Smith’s death is not true, the story comes back to life like a vampire or zombie, and his fans and followers are once again hit with news that Jaden Smith has committed suicide.

Some of Jaden’s recent life events and rumors about his personal life have added some credence to the rumors that he might have been emotionally compromised enough to take his own life. In August, it was widely reported that his girlfriend, Sarah Snyder, was having a fling with a random photographer. The photog in question even tweeted (then quickly deleted) a photo of himself in bed with Jaden Smith’s lady.

One round of Jaden Smith suicide rumors began swirling shortly thereafter.

The stories of Jaden Smith’s death have, whether coincidentally or by design, seemed to coincide with some of his high-profile projects, leading to a lot of talk that either Jaden or his PR people might be behind the pervasive talk that he’s repeatedly ending his own life.

It has been just over a week since the rumors of Jaden Smith’s suicide began to swirl again, and if Jaden Smith’s recent activities are any indication, he’s not paying them any mind. On September 11, Jaden and his girlfriend were spotted out and about and in the front row of the Hood By Air fashion show, part of Fashion Week. For a guy whose killed himself more times than most people can count over the last few weeks, he was getting pretty handsy with Sarah Snyder as the paparazzi looked on.

In true Jaden Smith fashion, the young Mr. Smith hasn’t publicly spoken about his apparent death. In fact, he hasn’t said anything about the persistent suicide rumors that have dogged his name all summer. He has posted some cryptic tweets and his life hasn’t seemed to slow down just because he keeps killing himself (at least according to the Internet powers that be); because Jaden hasn’t spoken out, a ton of people are still getting punked by the death hoax that wont die.

Lucky for Jaden Smith, the rumors of his death have seemingly helped his career, which appears to be at its most successful point ever. At least yet. His acting projects, including the incredibly popular Netflix series The Get Down, have been doing better than anyone could have expected. His face keeps popping up on magazine covers and in modeling campaigns. Fans are waiting for his long-awaited debut album. He’s making appearances in music videos. Indeed, the name “Jaden Smith” is dripping and oozing all over social media and the Internet and has been all summer, thanks in part due to the death rumors that won’t die.

[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]

Share this article: Jaden Smith: The Death Hoax That Just Won’t Die And How It’s Helping His Career [Video]
jaden smith
More from Inquisitr