STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.
The celebrity death hoax originated from a video (archived here) posted by a week-old YouTube account that appears to be based in the Philippines under the title "R.I.P. Clint Eastwood 1930 -2019". The short video featured a montage of photos of Eastwood with text that read:
Clint Eastwood was born in 1930Rest in peace1930-2019Clint EastwoodCNN
The same YouTube account posted videos claiming that former U.S. President Barack Obama was in critical condition in a hospital and that actor Tom Cruise was killed while filming a stunt on a movie set.
The death hoax was spread through quite sophisticated technical means reminiscent of an earlier hoax from two years ago a later analysis by Lead Stories revealed:
Clint Eastwood Death Hoax Tech Eerily Reminiscent of 2017 Rowan Atkinson Death Hoax | Lead Stories
Earlier this week Lead Stories already reported that Clint Eastwood was NOT dead, despite what a YouTube video was claiming: Hoax Alert Did Clint Eastwood recently die? No, that is not true: It is a celebrity death hoax.
We wrote about youtube.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
- Fake News: Picture Donald Trump Supposedly Wants Removed From The Internet Is Manipulated
- Fake News: Dog Does NOT Fall Into Canal And Starts To Drown, Until The Group of Dolphins Come To Save Him
- Fake News: Bob Marley NOT Singing 'Don't Worry Be Happy'
- Fake News: Obama And HR4310 Did NOT Make It Legal For The Media To Lie To The American People (It Always Was...)
- Fake News: Keanu Reeves (or Russell Crowe) Did NOT Say "For Me Trump Is The Symbol Of A Successful Man And A Role Model For Every Young American"
Updates:
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2019-09-02T22:32:40Z 2019-09-02T22:32:40Z Added link to technical analysis of the hoax
