Ted Nugent is not dead, but anyone browsing social media this weekend could have been fooled into thinking that the controversial rocker was killed in a hunting accident in Montana.
A report circulated across the internet claiming that Nugent was shot while setting up a tree stand just outside of a wildlife reserve. The report came from a site called The Last Line of Defense , and claimed that another hunter mistook Nugent for a brown bear and shot him from nearly a quarter of a mile away.
“Details are still coming out, but apparently Nugent often hunts this area for animals that stray from the preserve,” the report claimed. “He was just setting up before dawn without any reflective or hunter’s orange visible, wearing a fur hat he would typically change for a camo and orange version once the sun came up.”
The report added that the hunter who allegedly killed Ted Nugent was arrested and charged with manslaughter, as he fired the fatal shot before dawn, a time when hunting is not permitted.
The story claiming that Ted Nugent is dead garnered more than 11,000 shares from the site in less than two days and generated many comments on social media, but many failed to realize that it was fake. To those wondering, Nugent is alive and well, and actually posted on Facebook Live after the story claiming he had died was published.
Many people caught on, taking to social media to warn others that Nugent was indeed alive.
All the truth about TED NUGENT…
HINT: No, he’s NOT dead! Rotten rumors aside.
Watch the video…Ted is… https://t.co/sFMGR98zUh
— Pericles Elytis???? (@PericlesElytis) April 29, 2017
The story is part of a growing trend in internet media. The celebrity death hoax has blown up in the last five years, with stories almost weekly claiming that famous actors or athletes have died. Sometimes these are meant to drive traffic to fake news sites and earn ad revenue, other time they appear to start on social media as something of a joke before taking on life of their own.
It’s not clear what motivation the site may have for creating the Ted Nugent death hoax. While the story is clearly meant to drive traffic and make ad revenue, Nugent seems an odd pick for a site that describes itself as resistance to liberal ideas.
As the site’s description noted, it is in favor of gun rights and against liberals — which fits Ted Nugent to a T. Nugent even made a visit to Donald Trump in the Oval Office last month.
“We are a group of educated, God-fearing Christian conservative patriots who are tired of Obama’s tyrannical reign and ready to see a strong Republican take the White House,” the site noted. “We are sovereign citizens who want our government to keep its nose out of our business. We believe in guns, God and the Constitution and will go to any lengths to take OUR country back from the whiny, politically correct liberal masses.”
The site even seemed to double dip from the Ted Nugent death hoax. Immediately after the initial story was published, there was a second story claiming that Nugent was arrested for faking his own death .
“Ted Nugent was arrested and charged this evening with wanton waste of the general fund and filing false police reports for perpetuating a hoax that took social media by storm. After creating a fake death scene and calling local channel WKLU NBC2, Nugent spent the rest of the day laughing it up while drinking iced tea at the local police station with his accomplices.”
So anyone who comes across a story claiming that Ted Nugent is dead can rest easy, the controversial rocker is still alive and kicking.
[Featured Image by David Livingston/Getty Images for NAMM]