UPDATE: Joe Jackson passed away on June 27, 2018, four days after a hoax article prematurely announced his death.
Joe Jackson Dead at 89
Joe Jackson -- the patriarch of the Jackson family -- has died ... TMZ has learned. Family sources tell TMZ, Joe passed away at 3:30 AM Wednesday in L.A. We broke the story ... Joe was hospitalized in June with terminal cancer . His family had been flocking to his bedside since.
Did Joe Jackson (full name Joseph Walter Jackson) die on June 25, 2018 from terminal cancer? No, that's not true. No reliable news source has reported on the death and the only site that is pushing the story has a glaring errors in its article about the passing away of the patriarch of the Jackson family that includes such legendary entertainers as Michael, Janet and La Toya Jackson and the Jackson 5. Jackson is not dead.
The story originated from an article published by a website named The Weekly Observer (unaffiliated with the newspaper by the same name) on June 23, 2018 titled "Joe Jackson died today from terminal cancer" (archived here) which opened:
Joe Jackson, the father of the famous family Jackson, lost the fight against cancer as he suffered from incurable illness and was in the final stage, many American media reported.
The TMZ.com website, citing family sources, reported that 89-year-old Jackson suffered from cancer at the final stage. The Variety magazine supports a source that knows its status confirmed this information while DailyMail.com, based on family members and other unspecified sources, wrote that Joe Jackson suffered from cancer in the pancreas.
Zerman Jackson, one of Joe Jackson's sons, confirmed on Twitter that his father died .
TMZ did indeed report Jackson suffered from cancer:
Joe Jackson Hospitalized with Terminal Cancer
Joe Jackson Hospitalized with Terminal Cancer Joe Jackson is in a hospital with terminal cancer, TMZ has learned, and his family has been flocking to his bedside. Family sources tell us, Joe has been battling the illness for some time, but it is at the end stages.
But it is definitely not true "many American media reported" he had lost the fight against the disease: we weren't able to find a single legitimate news outlet reporting that news.
In addition Jackson does not have a son named "Zerman Jackson". The closest to that would be "Jermaine Jackson", who did not tweet about his father's death. His most recent tweets mentioning his father are from four days ago:
On the new story re Joseph. I'd like to be clear: I've no problem speaking up when it comes to the welfare of this family, but a journalist called me with information he clearly already had about my father. I confirmed certain details but "revealed" nothing. (1/2)
-- Jermaine Jackson (@jermjackson5) June 21, 2018
2: My father's health is not good, but "dying" is a harsh word chosen by headline writers, not me. For however long he has left, my mother, siblings, and relatives want to be with him, without hindrance. (2/2)
-- Jermaine Jackson (@jermjackson5) June 21, 2018
Don't trust news about celebrities passing away that hasn't been confirmed by major news outlets and don't like and share without getting confirmation if you care about the feelings of the friends and family of the celebrity in question.
Be especially wary of news about the death of a celebrity who has been reported to be in hospital (or very ill): some fake news websites like to push death hoaxes about them because they sound more believable, netting them millions of likes and shares.
