Fred Savage: death rumor with credence!

Most internet death rumors are deliberate pranks or seem to be made up out of the ether.

“Fred Savage dead” or “Fred Savage death” have been heavily trending for the past day, and at first it seemed like a run of the mill made up celebrity death hoax. However, this particular rumor has legs due to a young internet that isn’t so good at telling their 80s teen idols apart. As you probably recall, 80s teen superstar Corey Haim died back in March.

The Emmys were on last night, and like all award shows, they did an “In Memoriam” segment. PopEater explains what happened next:

During the Emmys “In Memoriam” segment, during which photos of the famously deceased appear alongside a sad song, an image of a young Corey Haim appeared that — to some viewers — resembled an equally-spry Savage. Of course, the words “Corey Haim” were overlaid on the screen, but shortly after it aired, the phrase “Fred Savage Dead” began trending on Google.

Results for that search term deliver grim (and fake!) headlines claiming the actor perished in a drunk driving accident (some even say his brother, Ben, is dead as well!), but viewers picked up on the rumor on Twitter and it spread. Many intrepid Twitterers are simply retweeting the “Dead” headline and bogus news links, while others are discussing how they saw his picture during the Emmys.

Pic above- tell me anyone over thirty could make that mistake!