Beth Chapman Death Hoax Gets Traction Again, Possibly Prompts Response From Husband Dog The Bounty Hunter

Beth Chapman is once again the subject of rumors about her death, and it appears that the nasty rumors have prompted her husband Duane Chapman, aka Dog the Bounty Hunter, to post a response. Or, perhaps, Dog just had something on his mind that he wanted to share, and his fans erroneously concluded that he made the statement in response to the rumors. Either way, Beth Chapman has not died, as of this writing.

The hoax

It’s difficult to pin down when the most recent round of rumors of Beth Chapman’s death began. For one thing, these types of things tend to come and go. For another, there’s a fine line between “a few people talking about it on social media” and a full-on internet hoax, and no one is really clear on where the distinction lies.

Regardless, the April of 2019 round of rumors was big enough to get the attention of writers for Snopes. The hoax-debunking website reports that the rumors gained traction when a series of “clickbait” YouTube videos began announcing that she had died. Those videos, in turn, were being shared by Twitter users — or those users of other popular social media platforms — sometimes with the caption “RIP Beth Chapman.” Since then, the hoax been growing in scope, finally reaching the point where Snopes editors felt the need to publicly debunk it.

Dog the Bounty Hunter's wife Beth puts on a brave smile while battling ‘incurable’ cancer https://t.co/rb8uYUjT1w

— The Sun (@TheSun) April 15, 2019

But why now?

The rumors certainly didn’t get started because Beth Chapman had actually died, that much is true.

The rumors might have gotten started because a lawyer for the couple told People in early April that Beth had been hospitalized. Adding fuel to the fire, so to speak, is the fact that Beth is somewhat active on social media — and her Instagram account went silent for a while after April 14. However, she has posted on Twitter as recently as April 20.

Dog responds (or maybe he doesn’t)

It appears as if the rumors of his wife’s death may have prompted her husband to respond.

In a Monday night Instagram post, Dog the Bounty Hunter posted a photo of a quote often attributed to Winston Churchill.

It bears noting that there’s no indication that Dog posted this in response to the false rumors of his wife’s death — other than the somewhat suspect timing, that is. It could very well be that Duane had something else on his mind that compelled him to post the quote.

It also bears noting that the quote is neither correct, nor attributable to Winston Churchill. According to Politifact, the quote actually reads, “a lie will gallop halfway round the world before the truth has time to pull its breeches on” — and the man who said it was Franklin Roosevelt’s secretary of state, Cordell Hull.

Regardless, Dog’s point is well-taken.