Lisa Marie Presley Dead? Viral Death Hoax Claims Daughter Of Elvis Presley Kicked The Bucket
Lisa Marie Presley is not dead, but anyone browsing social media this weekend may have been given alarm about the daughter of Elvis Presley.
A death hoax targeting Lisa Marie spread this weekend on Facebook, claiming that she had died from unnamed causes. It appeared to follow a format used to kill off rapper Eminem just days before, Yibada noted.
“Mediamass reported that the death hoax was traced to a ‘R.I.P. Lisa Marie Presley’ Facebook page which got one million likes. The wording of the page was very similar to the one used on Eminem, including asking fans to express their sympathy and condolence by commenting on and liking the page. However, the hoax news makers ‘killed’ the rapper on Nov. 6 and Lisa on Nov. 11.”
The Facebook page even went so far as to include a fake news story quote.
“At about 11 a.m. ET on Friday (November 11, 2016), our beloved singer Lisa Marie Presley passed away. Lisa Marie Presley (daughter of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley) was born on February 1, 1968 in Memphis. She will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.”
But as Yibada pointed out, Lisa Marie Presley moved quickly to squash the reports that she had died, issuing a statement through a representative.
“She joins the long list of celebrities who have been victimized by this hoax,” Yibada quoted a spokesperson. “She’s still alive and well, stop believing what you see on the Internet.”
Lisa Marie Presley is far from the first celebrity to be targeted by a death hoax. A growing number of actors, singers, and athletes have fallen victim to fake reports of their deaths, including some who have been struck multiple times.
The motivation for these fake news stories can vary. Sometimes it appears to be people just trying to cause a stir, sparking rumors on social media and seeing how far they can travel. Other stories are fabricated by fake news websites aiming to get clicks by fooling readers into checking out the reports.
The Lisa Marie Presley death hoax isn’t quite clear, but there is a chance that even the reports of the death hoax are fake. MediaMass, the first source of the report on her death, has been known for publishing frequent stories about death hoaxes. The site also did not link to the alleged Facebook page where the rumor started, and the entire story seems to follow a format used in many other death hoaxes. One published this weekend about Morgan Freeman, for example, uses wording identical to the Lisa Marie Presley report.
The death hoax targeting Lisa Marie Presley appears to have borrowed a bit from her real-life struggles in recent times. This summer, Us Weekly reported that Lisa Marie decided to go to rehab for help with an addiction to prescription drugs. She reportedly checked into the pricey Hills Treatment Center in Los Angeles.
Presley had been open about her struggles with addiction in the past.
“[I used] cocaine, sedatives, pot and drinking — all at the same time. I just couldn’t be sober,” Lisa Marie previously told Paper Magazine. “I don’t know how I lived through it.”
The rehab stint came just as Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from husband Michael Lockwood. People magazine reported that Presley claimed irreconcilable differences.
“They’re not trying to work it out and get back together,” said Ronald Litz, Lisa Marie’s lawyer. “She’s done.”
As the death hoax reports showed, there is still quite a bit of interest in the extended family of music legend Elvis Presley. There have also been many recent stories about her children, actress Riley Keough and her brother, Benjamin Keough.
But those still worried that Lisa Marie Presley might be dead can breathe a bit easier — the daughter of the King of Rock and Role has not yet left the building.
[Featured Image by Rick Diamond/Getty Images]
