Bill Nye Dead? Celebrity Death Hoax Claiming ‘The Science Guy’ Died Resurfaces Online
Is Bill Nye dead?
If you fell for a celebrity death hoax that recently resurfaced online, chances are you think the answer to that question is “yes.” However, that is not the case at all.
The 60-year-old science educator and popular television personality known as “Bill Nye the Science Guy” is still alive and apparently doing well. A memorial tribute photo of Bill Nye circulating on Facebook, though, has made numerous people believe that the longtime scientist and television show host died earlier this month.
According to the photo, Bill Nye passed away on Monday, May 2.
Many of Bill’s fans that follow him on social media more than likely realized that this “announcement” was part of the growing list of celebrity death hoaxes just by looking at Bill’s recent tweets.
For example, he posted two photos – one of which was a selfie – on Twitter from the Climate Action Summit in Washington D.C. on May 6 – nearly four days after his alleged death.
We really are going to change the world. Let’s go!! pic.twitter.com/xxUm3AXc9n
— Bill Nye (@BillNye) May 6, 2016
At the Climate Action Summit in Washington, DC. Just trying to change the world is all… #climateaction pic.twitter.com/A55ZM4Ewqr
— Bill Nye (@BillNye) May 6, 2016
This is not the first time that Bill Nye has become a target of a celebrity death hoax. Nearly four years ago, a satirical news website claimed that the longtime scientist died in a balloon accident. The news of Bill’s “death” surfaced on social media and quickly went viral due to photo sharing and re-tweets.
“for a solid two months I thought Bill Nye was dead but then I saw he was on dancing with the stars”
— eleanor (@notadamyoung) May 9, 2016
According to the International Business Times, Bill Nye claimed in an interview with CBS that he found the entire experience and its generated notoriety “fun.” However, he also used those moments in the limelight to reiterate his strong beliefs on evolution over creationism – claiming that the Earth is not 6,000 or even 10,000 years old.
“It’s not. And if that conflicts with your beliefs, I strongly feel you should question your beliefs. If we raise a generation of students who don’t believe in the process of science, who think everything that we’ve come to know about nature and the universe can be dismissed by a few sentences translated into English from some ancient text, you’re not going to continue to innovate.”
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, another round of rumors and speculation about the death of Bill Nye surfaced online back in 2014. However, it was not an alleged balloon accident that led to his death; it was homicide. The report claimed that Bill Nye was murdered by a suspect that claimed it was God that made him do it.
You’re telling me that almost 5.4 million people are wondering about evolution? Wow. https://t.co/NDFM4IdLpn
— Bill Nye (@BillNye) May 12, 2016
Jus finished watching Bill Nye debate Ken Ham. As a creationist I support Mr. Ham but I don’t believe he was very prepared for this event
— CoreyNorris™ (@CoreyNorris7) May 13, 2016
I know that debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham was supposed to be cool
— Violet bot (@Spank_ebooks) May 7, 2016
That specific death hoax surfaced online the same month as Bill Nye’s debate against creationist Ken Ham in which he again expressed his stance on evolution.
“If we accept Mr. Ham’s point of view…. that the Bible serves as a science text and he and his followers will interpret that for you, I want you to consider what that means. It means that Mr. Ham’s word is to be more respected than what you can observe in nature, what you can find in your backyard.”
Bill Nye continues to build a growing list of awards, accolades and accomplishments over the years. However, he is perhaps best known for his popular PBS children’s show Bill Nye the Science Guy which aired for five seasons from September 1993 to June 1998.
[Image Credit: D Dipasupil/Getty Images]
