George R. R. Martin has confirmed on his blog that he is indeed "not dead yet" after people mistook him for George Martin, the 90-year-old Beatles' producer who passed away over the weekend.
"I have to go with Mark Twain and insist that the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated," he wrote, noting that he is "still here, still writing, still editing, still going to movies and reading books," and that he expects "to hang around for quite a while yet."
Source: NBC
He's not the first to be straight up murdered by the internet. Here's how other hoax victims have debunked their own deaths.
1. Eminem
Source: Universal
After a rumour circulated that Eminem was stabbed to death outside a club in NYC, the rapper's rep was forced to release a wonderfully sassy statement that included the line "he remains unstabbed".
2. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Source: Twitter
The Rock was less than impressed when he heard the news that he'd died while filming a dangerous stunt for The Fast And The Furious 7 in New Zealand in April 2014. The rumour was in particularly poor taste as his friend and co-star Paul Walker had died in a car accident less than six months previously.
Understandably, The Rock took umbrage, tweeting that he'd like to kick the person responsible for the rumours with his "dead foot".
Source: WWE
3. Chloe Grace Moretz
Kim Kardashian may not know who she is, but enough people are familiar with the actress to get her fake death trending. Supposedly killed in a snowboarding accident, Chloe was less than impressed at her untimely demise, calling her faux-murderers "sick".
4. Usher
Source: Twitter
Another victim of a car crash that never happened, Usher posted a photo of himself to deny the rumours of his death, pointing out that he "went to heaven" because he was "cold kickin ass", drawing an interesting connection between holiness and physical fitness.
5. Jon Bon Jovi
Source: Facebook
Jon Bon Jovi posted the above pic after the internet declared him dead by cardiac arrest. Joking that "heaven looks a lot like New Jersey", the singer proved that it was indeed still his life, and he'd not been shot through the heart, nor had he suffered a heart attack.
6. Britney Spears
Source: FOX
The pop princess has "died" a few times over the course of her career, the first being in a fiery car crash with then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake back in 2002, and then in 2009 after her Twitter account was hacked, propelling rumours that the singer had died.
7. Macaulay Culkin
Source: 20th Century Fox
After hearing that he'd been found dead in his NYC apartment, the Home Alone actor laughed it off, tweeting "we're on tour you silly people", referring to his band Pizza Underground, following it up with the following snap, prompting friend and Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Sarah Michelle Gellar to respond "thank goodness you are okay! Man people are bored."
8. Jackie Chan
Source: Facebook
After allegedly dying while filming a stunt for a new film, Jackie Chan posted the above pic to prove that he was indeed alive and well. The rumour was started by Facebook hackers in order to gain access to people's profiles and private information.
9. Russell Crowe
Source: Twitter
One of the Internet's favourite ways to kill the famed and fortunate is to throw them off a cliff. Aside from Russell Crowe, others who've been rumoured to fall to their deaths from a mountaintop are Natalie Portman, Tom Hanks, Reba McIntyre and Tony Danza and...
10. Jeff Goldblum
Source: Comedy Central
One of the original beloved icons to meet his demise at in this manner, Jeff Goldblum supposedly fell off a 60ft cliff in New Zealand in 2009. To prove he was indeed alive and well, the actor interrupted Stephen Colbert's report on his passing, before pointing out that not only was he still in the land of the living, he was also in New York, not New Zealand.
