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Macaulay Culkin death hoax: Rumours about former child star confirmed as false

Culkin is still the lead singer of a comedy band called Pizza Underground

Saturday 08 November 2014 18:14 GMT

Macaulay Culkin is lead singer of Pizza Underground (REX)

Macaulay Culkin is again the subject of death hoaxes, with the latest alleging that he was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Friday just seven months after the last rumour.

The claims about the actor and musician, who rose to fame after starring in the 1990 classic family comedy Home Alone and is now in a band called Pizza Underground, spread quickly on social media from Thursday.

The misleading report on MSNBC.website (not to be confused with the real MSNBC) said: "Sources are reporting that Macaulay Culkin, best known for his role as Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, has been found dead at the age of 34."

Fans of the former actor's work posted emotional tributes after hearing the false claims about his wellbeing.

"Multiple unconfirmed reports say Culkin was found dead Friday afternoon in his Manhattan apartment after police responded to a wellness check requested by a family member.

"At least one occupant of the Manhattan apartment confirmed the apartment belongs to Culkin but police have not confirmed the man’s identity at this time.

"'The apartment was exceptionally clean and we found no signs of abuse or foul-play so we are depending on the coroner to make a final ruling of what happened here today,' said Det. James Patterson, of the Manhattan Police Department," the hoax statement added.

Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

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1/10Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

Jeff Goldblum

The actor, famous for his roles in The Fly and Jurassic Park suffered a fatal fall from a cliff while filming in New Zealand in June 2009 - or so Australian news show Today would have you believe. The show had got their information from the latest Twitter frenzy for celebrity deaths following on from the recent genuine death of Michael Jackson, but assured viewers that their story was confirmed by New Zealand police.

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Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

Pope Benedict

While there is strict ritual and ceremony to be followed to confirm the death of any pope, this did not seem to matter to thousands, who believed a tweet from 'Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone', the papal number two, announcing the passing on of the then Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. The tweet was later revealed to be from Tommaso De Benedetti, a Roman school teacher, who says he pulled the hoax to expose the weakness of social media.

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Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

Adam Sandler

The comedian should really give up snowboarding. The actor has been the victim of various hoax reports announcing his death, each time in a similar accident involving a snowboard and a tree. Rebutting the rumours on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Sandler assured viewers "If I do die it will be in America and I won't be on a snowboard, I will either be on a toilet or hanging from a belt naked."

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Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

Zach Braff

In 2007, Scrubs actor Zach Braff became an unfortunate victim of nothing but his own undoing. He set up a website announcing that he had committed suicide, in order to film his friends' reactions. In 2009, Braff was again the subject of an internet death hoax. New Jersey resident Chris Laganella kick-started a rumour about the actor's death, forcing Braff to put out a video on YouTube confirming his wellbeing.

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Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

Miley Cyrus

She once sang "I can't be tamed", but it also seems American singer Miley Cyrus can't be killed off by an internet rumour either. In September 2008, Reuters reported that the then 15-year-old star had died in a car accident, while later that year someone hacked her YouTube page to announce that she had died after being hit by a drunk driver.

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Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

Gotye

The Australian singer's friends and family were concerned that Gotye had become "somebody they used to know" in July, when CNN's iReport - the channel's social news network - reported that he had shot himself in the head in 2012. Gotye quickly took to Twitter to deny the report, while bandmate Tim Shiel joked "It saddens me to confirm the news of Gotye's passing - he suffered cardiac arrest while flying a unicorn over a double rainbow".

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Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

Kanye West

In one of his most famous hits, he said "Jesus walks with us", but according to Reuters in 2009, it was the rapper who was walking with Jesus, when it reported that he had been killed in a car crash. With Kanye being one of the world's biggest performers, this soon caused chaos on Twitter, leading to his less-than-amused then girlfriend at the time Amber Rose to take to the site exclaiming: "This 'RIP Kanye West' topic is not funny and it's NOT TRUE!".

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Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

Neil Young

Following the death of moon-walker Neil Armstrong at the weekend, NBCNews.com mistakenly reported "Astronaut Neil Young, first man to walk on moon, dies at age 82". The headline was amended within seven minutes, with sources confirming the 66-year-old Canadian musician is still rocking like a hurricane.

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Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

Skrillex

The dubstep DJ formerly known as Sonny Moore was the victim of several death pranks over the past year, including one alleging a cocaine overdose. In each occasion the producer everyone love to hate has had to take to Twitter to deny reports, and confirm that he is still alive and - unfortunately for some - making music.

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Still alive and kicking: Famous people social media tried to kill off

Gerard Way

It's not just the micro-publishing power of Twitter that has sparked internet death rumours. With its open-editing platform, Wikipedia is also vulnerable to such pranks, and My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way found this out in 2008 when someone changed his entry on the online encyclopedia to confirm his death in a car crash. He later released a statement reassuring fans that he was okay and had not joined the 'Black Parade' quite yet.

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Pizza Underground perform Velvet Underground parody songs with pizza-themed lyrics and the five-man band have toured the UK and US.

In May this year, Macaulay stormed off stage during gig in Nottingham and cancelled the rest of his UK tour after he was booed and pelted with pints of beer by the audience during his kazoo solo performance.

He is also ranked second on VH1's "100 Greatest Kid Stars" after Shirley Temple and also starred in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Richie Rich.

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