Easy, Twitter! Adam Sandler is alive and well despite erroneous reports to the contrary courtesy of prank website Global Associated News.
Global faux-reported that, “The actor & novice snowboarder was vacationing at the Zermatt ski resort in Zermatt, Switzerland with family and friends. Witnesses indicate that Adam Sandler lost control of his snowboard and struck a tree at a high rate of speed,” continuing that the funny man,”was air lifted by ski patrol teams to a local hospital, however, it is believed that the actor died instantly from the impact of the crash.”
Global allows its users to enter a celebrity name which is then plugged-in to generated celebrity death headline. Over the past several years, they have been responsible for “killing off” Eddie Murphy, Owen Wilson, Luke Perry, Denzel Washington, and Ryan Gosling (all of whom are in excellent health as of this posting).
But Sandler is totally fine. The 45-year-old was on the set of Grown Ups 2 when the faux headline was making social media rounds Thursday, reports E! . His rep confirmed it, which has become something of an annual practice in Sandler’s camp. Rumors of his untimely death first popped up in 2010, and again last year .
According to Snopes , the difference between a media hoax and a genuine report is based on who gets hold of it and what they do with it afterwards. So if you see Twitter blowing up reporting someone’s death but the mainstream media is mostly silent (for instance, CBS news merely relegated its dismissal of the Sandler death hoax to its live feed), then you’re looking at a hoax.
Good thing, too. I’ve been looking forward to Grown Ups 2 .