Story:
Actress Betty White, 93, Dies Peacefully in Her Los Angeles Home.
Other Versions
1. R.I.P. Betty White
2. At about 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday (October 12, 2016), our beloved actress Betty White passed away. Betty White was born on January 17, 1922 in Oak Park. She will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page
Analysis:
Various stories doing rounds online since few years come to ‘report’ that the beloved Golden Girls actress Betty White had died, some saying she passed away peacefully in her Los Angeles home. No, the death claims of Betty White are not facts.
Origin of Death Hoax Stories
In 2012 a Facebook page R.I.P Betty White stated that beloved actor, comedian, author, and singer Betty White passed away due to a heart attack, and asked readers to show sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking the page.
At about 7 p.m. ET on Thursday 10/11/12 our beloved actor, comedian, author, and singer Betty White passed away due to a heart attack. Betty was born on January 17th, 1922. She will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.
The death claim was a hoax. Again since at least 2013 Media Mass website en.mediamass.net has been publishing an auto-generated article that seemed to debunk the death hoax story of Betty White. The article mentioned the below claim, which, has been mistaken for fact by some readers:
“At about 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday (October 12, 2016), our beloved actress Betty White passed away. Betty White was born on January 17, 1922 in Oak Park. She will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.”
In 2014 Empire News website empirenews.net published a satirical tongue-in-cheek article saying Betty White is not an original blonde and chooses to “‘Dye” her hair in that shade herself when she is at home. The wordplay in the headline of the article, “Actress Betty White, 93, Dyes Peacefully In Her Los Angeles Home” (Dyes for Dies) misled some readers and that was obviously blown out of proportion by the scammers who posted the death hoax. The article resurfaced online again in 2016 and Fans of Betty White who bought for the death story went on to express their condolences and shared the death news on social media, making the story popular again.
Betty White is Alive
The aforementioned death stories of Betty White are all hoaxes; as of this writing, the 94 year old actress is very much alive and doing well. On 9 Sep. 2016 Betty, the last member of the Golden Girls still alive, posted a picture of her on Facebook:
Celebrity death hoaxes are not new online, actors Sylvester Stallone, Will Smith, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan are among the ones who are frequently targeted with such false stories.
Hoax or Fact:
Hoax.
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