Willie Nelson Death Hoax is a Hoax Itself…But He’s Alive!
Willie lives!
Even though there wasn’t really ever any evidence to the contrary, except for an unfortunate rumor on Facebook that apparently won’t die now, but wasn’t even really started in the first place, but now has taken on a life of its own and needs debunking. Confused?
***UPDATE: On April 11th, 2015 another similar death hoax was perpetuated by “msmbc.co”. To read about the latest hoax, CLICK HERE.
Like many celebrities, Willie Nelson was the victim of a death hoax, but it turns out the hoax was a hoax in itself, all meant to drive traffic to a misleading, click-generating website called mediamass.net (do yourself a favor, and don’t feed the beast by checking it out). Long story short, the website is notorious for posting fake death stories about famous celebrities and starting death rumors. And just about the time the rumor is starting to send people into an uproar, they reverse their stories to be hoax busters, ostensibly debunking their own hoax, once again reaping the rewards of people trying to find out if their beloved celebrities are dead or not and generating massive traffic to their website.
The current fake mediamass.net story says,
Rumors of the guitarist’s alleged demise gained traction on Friday after a ‘R.I.P. Willie Nelson’ Facebook page attracted nearly one million of ‘likes’. Those who read the ‘About’ page were given a believable account of the American guitarist’s passing:
“At about 11 a.m. ET on Friday (February 27, 2015), our beloved guitarist Willie Nelson passed away. Willie Nelson was born on April 30, 1933 in Abbott. He will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.”
Hundreds of fans immediately started writing their messages of condolence on the Facebook page, expressing their sadness that the talented 81-year-old guitarist and singer was dead. And as usual, Twittersphere was frenzied over the death hoax.
Making the MediaMass posts even more misleading, apparently the fake hoax debunking stories change the date information on a regular basis to always look current, allowing for the hoax of a hoax to indefinitely perpetuate itself through unsuspecting perpetrators just trying to debunk a hoax that wasn’t really a hoax to begin with.
Head hurting yet?
According to snopes.com, the hoax of a Willie Nelson death hoax appears to have materialized on or around February 21st, though the quote from snopes.com includes the same verbiage quoted above from mediamass.net, only it includes a February 21st date, so it may be wrong—changed by MediaMass on the day snopes.com sniffed the fake hoax out. Either way, the hoax was probably started recently, in the last week or so.
Making matters even worse (and more confusing), the MediaMass ruse appears to have worked well, and now real rumors both of Willie Nelson’s demise, and folks posting the MediaMass hoax story have people spreading and debunking their own rumors all over Facebook.
In other words, if you see someone saying Willie Nelson is dead, it’s a hoax. And if you see someone saying Willie Nelson’s death is a hoax, it’s a hoax as well. So don’t share it. Unless it is this article, which I’m pretty sure is legit…but now I’m so confused even I’m not quite sure.
What I am sure of is that Willie Nelson is awesome, and screw anyone trying to make money off of fake hoaxes of his death.
Long live Willie!
March 2, 2015 @ 6:28 pm
what?!!!!
March 2, 2015 @ 6:34 pm
10-4
March 2, 2015 @ 7:09 pm
THIS IS BS.. THEY SHOULD STOP THIS STUPID WEBSITE. SHUT IT DOWN. THERE IS NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT JOKING ABOUT ONE’S DEATH.. THESE GUYS ARE SORRY PEOPLE FOR MAKING MONEY OFF OF THEIR STUPID IGNORANT JOKES..
March 2, 2015 @ 8:47 pm
This is not disrespectful. There is an actual hoax of a hoax out there that Willie died and then that he didn’t die, and Trigger is simply trying to clarify that Willie is in fact alive and this was simply a hoax started by a site that regularly does these things. Besides, Trigger fights for the artists that don’t get the recognition they deserve, and points out the foul things that happen in the country music world. Also, his rants about such horrendous artists such as FGL are so funny and hilariously accurate that this site can’t possibly be shut down. Trigger is one of the few critics who doesn’t worship pop country, and who has the guts to speak what’s on the minds of many people.
March 2, 2015 @ 9:08 pm
I really do agree with you Brandon. I really like Trigger’s point of view, I like his taste of music and his great rants like Florida Georgia Line and others who trying to be country.
March 2, 2015 @ 9:46 pm
I think Candace was talking about mediamass.com but I could be wrong.
March 2, 2015 @ 10:08 pm
I think so Kyle.
March 2, 2015 @ 7:26 pm
Who’s on first….
March 3, 2015 @ 1:35 am
My thought exactly… Abbott and Costello seem to have been one upped…
March 2, 2015 @ 7:35 pm
You’d think people would have learned to be suspicious of any death stories by now. But you’d be wrong.
March 2, 2015 @ 7:58 pm
People shouldn’t write shit like that it isn’t funny. It is very sick thing to do.
March 2, 2015 @ 8:26 pm
Almost freaked when i saw the title.
March 2, 2015 @ 10:00 pm
been trying to get a Taylor Swift/Bob Log III rumor started on SCM for years. sounds like these are the folks i should be talking too…
March 3, 2015 @ 5:24 am
It’s frightening how stupid our society has become.
March 3, 2015 @ 6:56 am
Yes, it is. It’s even more troubling that people don’t bother to cross-reference sources or even bother to see if it’s a hoax before hitting the “like” button on Facebook, or commenting. People just read the headline and go from there.
March 3, 2015 @ 8:28 am
Long live Willie!
March 3, 2015 @ 12:55 pm
So. a suggestion to us all… (including myself) If you see something about an artist’s death, especially if it is not a trusted news source, check it out before passing it on even if it is just a message of condolence. It is easy enough to google the artist’s official page, and if there is not an announcement there, assume it may be a hoax.
March 3, 2015 @ 10:59 pm
Couldn’t Willie Nelson sue them for defamation?
March 16, 2015 @ 7:10 pm
Willie is too busy rolling another one and not giving a crap about web hoaxes.
April 12, 2015 @ 2:57 am
I know he will be miss from a lot of who like his songs. I found I miss him miss him more then words can ever say. Know he can sing with ever one with all who love to sing with before. Let him rest in peace my you know there are a lot who miss you.
April 16, 2015 @ 4:58 am
What!?!?! Willie’s dead !?!?!?!?!? I gotta get this on Facebook right away !!!!!!