Dwayne Johnson has become the victim of a death hoax once again, after a fake news story circulated that he had been killed in a stunt gone wrong.
The actor and wrestler, 47, has yet to comment on the stories, but given that he was posting on his Instagram story about a fan gifting him a beaded version of one of his movie posters, fans can be assured he’s not posted from beyond the grave.
The hoax story’s headline read: ‘BBC: Dwayne The Rock Johnson Dies at 47 after a terrible stunt attempted failed’, and quickly circulated around Facebook.
Despite using the BBC in the headline, the link would take users to a fake website rather than the legitimate news source, and there is no story about ‘The Rock’ being dead on the BBC. This isn’t the first time Dwayne has been the target of a death hoax – the Fast And Furious star was also declared dead by trolls in 2011 and 2014.
In 2011, he responded to the rumours on his Facebook page, telling fans: ‘Rumours of my death are false – I’m still “Bringin’ It” 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – including leap year!’
In 2014, hoaxers also claimed it was a stunt gone wrong that had been the end for Dwayne, falsely reporting: ‘Actor Dwayne Johnson died while filming a movie in New Zealand early this morning – June 10, 2014.
‘Preliminary reports from New Zealand Police officials indicate that the actor fell more than 60 feet to his death on the Kauri Cliffs while on-set.’ Very much alive and well, Dwayne has recently completed filming for Jumanji: The Next Level and the former wrestler also appeared at UFC 244: Masvidal vs Diaz where he presented winner Jorge Masvidal with the belt.
