Is Michael J. Fox dead? Nope, Michael J. Fox might be still battling Parkinson’s disease but this news is yet another celebrity death hoax.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , a Jackie Chan death hoax spread viruses to computer users .
This isn’t the first time Michael J. Fox’s death has hit the internet. Back in 2010, the Today Show accidentally said Michael J. Fox was dead instead of Canadian sports hero Terry Fox. Then in 2012 the search phrase “Michael J. Fox obituary” inexplicably became popular on the internet.
The new Michael J. Fox death hoax begins by claiming the existence of a fake Facebook page which says:
“At about 11 a.m. ET on Saturday (October 05, 2013), our beloved actor Michael J. Fox passed away. Michael J. Fox was born on June 9, 1961 in Edmonton. He will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.”
Most celebrity death hoaxes tend to try and get people to click on a link to an external site featuring “exclusive” news or videos. Unfortunately, this time around the source for this vicious rumor is a website called Mediamass.net that calls itself a “medium of satire [intended] to expose with humor, exaggeration and ridicule the contemporary mass production and mass consumption that we observe.”
That’s right. The Michael J. Fox death hoax is being started by completely fake news in an attempt to resemble The Onion except with satire instead of humor. Which, to a very limited extent, does carry a point since many websites will spread such news like wildfire.
But reports of Michael J. Fox dead from Parkinson’s disease are anything but funny. The actor has been fighting the disease for many years now since he was diagnosed at age 30. But Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease does not define his life:
“Finding a cure? I don’t view that as something that will happen in my lifetime. That’s – that’s not my purpose, to find a cure for myself, and that’s not noble of me, that’s just the way it goes. But I know somebody will one day figure it out.”
Michael J. Fox says his wife and four children were crucial in supporting him through the hard times . But he’s bounced back and now he’s even launched the Michael J. Fox show .
Thanks for watching the @MichaelJFoxShow , see you next week
— Michael J. Fox (@realmikefox) October 4, 2013
Do you think a Michael J. Fox death hoax is an appropriate subject for satire?