Is Ellen DeGeneres Dead? Another Celebrity Death Hoax Goes Viral

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The talk show host is just one in a long line of recent "fake" celebrity deaths.

First of all, Ellen DeGeneres is very much alive despite reports to the contrary.

The talk show host’s death was trending on social media today, but the 65-year-old comedian is still alive, according to reports by The Sun.

This all started back in July when #RIPEllen went viral on X (formerly known as Twitter) and fans began panicking when they saw that her death was trending on the app. Immediately following people began offering their condolences while others who took the opportunity to drag the controversial figure.

Some people seemed sincere, posting things like, “I know everyone hated her during her last years but Ellen DeGeneres did so much for the queer community in her life it’s kinda sad how she passed away #ripellen”

I know everyone hated her during her last years but Ellen DeGeneres did so much for the queer community in her life it’s kinda sad how she passed away #ripellen
— 💖 (@mazzypopstar) October 6, 2022

While others posted snarky messages such as “#RipEllen you won’t be missed” above photos of other blond, short-haired celebs that are decidedly not the Finding Nemo star.

#RipEllen you won’t be missed ✨ pic.twitter.com/GOYWkz1EGz
— Abby ❀starring role enthusiast🌺🌿 (@dolce_veetaa) July 8, 2020

But the whole thing turned out to be a giant hoax, which was confirmed when DeGeneres was seen out celebrating her anniversary alive and well with wife Portia De Rossi, The Sun reports.

Death hoaxes seem to be becoming common place these days, with #RIPJEffBezos trending around the same time as the Ellen hoax and Young viral rap sensation Lil Tay’s death trending online earlier this month before reports came out that it was all a hoax.

And just this week The Bachelorette star Joshua Seiter was reported dead on his Instagram account before coming forward to blame the false reports on his account being hacked.

Andy Cohen, Simon Cowell, Bruce Willis, and Celine Dion have similarly all been the victims of death hoaxes as well. They are so common that Snopes has been cataloging these fake deaths for decades and places the blame on performative grief, saying, “the celebrity death hoax proliferates across the internet mainly because it feeds on a number of more basic instincts among users, such as ‘performing’ their grief on social media.”

Until the landscape of the internet, social media, clickbait websites and 24-hour news cycles changes we are likely to continue to see more celebrity death hoaxes.