Jessica Radcliffe’s Orca Attack, Lil Tay’s IG Hack & More Death Hoaxes

Did an Orca Really Kill Trainer Jessica Radcliffe? The Truth Behind the Viral Clip

This viral moment turned out to be nothing more than a whale of a tale.

After a video spread on social media depicting a whale trainer named Jessica Radcliffe being killed by an orca, it was revealed that not only does Radcliffe not exist, but the entire video was a hoax.

Instead, multiple outlets confirmed the video was generated by AI.

And while there have been real-life incidents in which animal trainers have been killed by whales—like in the case of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau, who was pulled into a pool by orca Tilikum in 2010—there have been many more online hoaxes that caught wildfire.

Take the case of Steve Burns, for instance. After the Blue’s Clues host left the Nickelodeon children’s show in the early aughts, there were rumors that he died. But as the alive and well Steve can attest, none of them were true.

“Everyone thought I was dead for a while,” he told The New York Times last September. “I was kind of an urban legend. And that hurt, to be honest. And it kind of messed me up because that was happening while the internet was just sort of beginning to internet. No one, including myself, was kind of prepared for the degree of consensus that it represented. When a zillion, trillion people all think you’re dead for 15 years, it freaks you out.”

And in 2023, false reports spread that rapper Lil Tay passed away.

“I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive, but I’m completely heartbroken, and struggling to even find the right words to say,” she told TMZ at the time, noting that her Instagram had been hacked and led to the misinformation. “It’s been a very traumatizing 24 hours. All day yesterday, I was bombarded with endless heartbreaking and tearful phone calls from loved ones all while trying to sort out this mess.”

To revisit more online hoaxes, keep reading.

Adela Loconte/Shutterstock

Steve Burns

The Blues Clues star doesn’t have a clue how these rumors started. But even while he was still on the Nickelodeon series, there were false stories that he had died. And Steve, who is very much alive, has spoken about the toll this hoax took on his mental health.

“When a gazillion people you’ve never met tell you that you’re dead, it’s bad when you’re severely clinically depressed,” he shared on a May 2025 episode of Rainn Wilson’s Soul Bloom podcast. “And there was nothing I could do about this rumor.”

After Steve left the show in the early aughts, the rumors continued: “It was one of the most common things people would say to me was, ‘I thought you were dead.'”

Instagram/Lil Tay

Lil Tay

Days after a statement on her Instagram reported the rapper and her brother had died, Lil Tay confirmed her account was hacked.

“I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive, but I’m completely heartbroken, and struggling to even find the right words to say,” she told TMZ. “It’s been a very traumatizing 24 hours. All day yesterday, I was bombarded with endless heartbreaking and tearful phone calls from loved ones all while trying to sort out this mess.”

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth II

Yes, Queen Elizabeth II is actually dead.

But six months before her September 2022 passing, she got entangled in hoax when Hollywood Unlocked prematurely reported she died.

“I’m not a conspiracy theorist, and everything aligns with me feeling very confident, which is why I doubled down on it,” the outlet’s CEO Jason Lee told BuzzFeed News in February 2022. “Now if I’m wrong, I’ll be the first one to go out there and say, hey, it’s the first time I got it wrong and this is a big wrong, on to the next story.”

Kurt Krieger/Corbis via Getty Images

Eminem

Will the source behind these hoaxes please stand up?

Over the years, Eminem has been the subject of several false death stories, including one that started in August 2023 after an “R.I.P. Eminem” Facebook page caught attention.

“He joins the long list of celebrities who have been victimized by this hoax,” his rep said in a statement obtained by The Sun. “He’s still alive and well, stop believing what you see on the Internet.”

Jason LaVeris / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

Wayne Knight

The Seinfeld alum took to Twitter in 2014 to assure fans that he is “alive and well” after several fake sites reported he died in a car crash.

Briquet-Domine-Wyters/ABACA

Chloë Grace Moretz

The Carrie star was none too pleased to learn some mischiefmakers spread false reports about her dying in a snowboarding mishap in 2013.

“I’ve had my loved ones calling crying to check and see if I’m alive,” Chloë tweeted at the time. “Don’t make this up. It’s not real. I am fully alive and here. You’re sick.”

Jason Merritt / Staff / GETTY IMAGES

Jim Carrey

A fake RIP Jim Carrey Facebook page claimed the actor was killed in a plane crash in 2012. However, his rep assured E! News The Mask star is just fine.

Jason Kempin / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

Reba McEntire

The country singer shot down rumors about her alleged death in Austria, tweeting in 2012, “While I would love to be shooting a movie in Austria, I definitely did not fall off a mountain! Nor am I dead! I am alive and kicking!!!”

Ragnar Singsaas / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

Jon Bon Jovi

To prove he didn’t die from cardiac arrest as the 2011 rumors claimed, the “Livin’ on a Prayer” singer posted a photo with the date that read, “Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey. Rest assured that Jon is alive and well! This photo was just taken.”

Getty Images / Staff / GETTY IMAGES

Missy Elliott

The rapper put death rumors to rest when she tweeted in 2011, “I’m Great ppl 4 all who keep asking! Alive and well! Enjoy ya night tweeps!” The next day she added, “Yea Sadly sum1 was that miserable to make up such a cruel rumor! It Makes me work harder make em mad!”

Denzel Washington

After false rumors spread that the Oscar winner fell victim to a snowboarding accident in 2011, his publicist cleared the air by telling E!, “He is working on location in Atlanta currently.”

Trago / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

Jackie Chan

When somebody created an “R.I.P. Jackie Chan” Facebook page in 2011, false rumors claiming the Rush Hour actor died became the talk of the social world. Unfortunately, he isn’t a stranger to a death hoax as similar gossip had spread earlier that year.

Kevin Mazur / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

After hearing reports he had fallen off a cliff in New Zealand and died in 2011, the actor took to Twitter to prove the hoaxers wrong. “I would love to meet the person who is starting rumors of my death,” he wrote, “to show them how a dead foot feels up their ass.”

Rob Loud / Stringer / GETTY IMAGES

Kanye “Ye” West

In 2009, fake rumors spread that the rapper had been involved in a fatal car crash, leading “RIP Kanye West” to trend on Twitter. However, Amber Rose, who dated him at the time, set the record straight, tweeting, “This RIPKanyeWest topic is not funny and its NOT TRUE!”

John Shearer / Staff / GETTY IMAGES

Zach Braff

After it was inaccurately reported that the Scrubs star died in 2009, he made a video to confirm he’s OK.

“I’m alive,” Zach said in the clip. “I’m here at Scrubs shooting the new Scrubs title sequence which is a little bit like dying, so I guess that was semi-accurate.”

He even brought his costar Donald Faison in on the hoax.

“I was able to work out with him that if I do ever die,” Zach continued, “I would like him to sing an R&B version of ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ at my funeral.”

Jeffrey Ufberg / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

Matt Damon

That same year, there were untrue rumors that the Oscar winner went missing during a camping trip in California’s Palo Verde Mountains. However, Matt just laughed off the comments.

“I haven’t heard,” he said on the Late Show With David Letterman at the time, per TMZ, “but I feel pretty good.”

Jason Merritt / Staff / GETTY IMAGES

Britney Spears

In 2009, a hacker posted a “sad day” message on the singer’s TwitPic account.

“Britney’s Twitter was just hacked,” a follow-up post read. “The last message is obviously not true. She is fine and dandy spending a quiet day at home relaxing.”

NBC

Jeff Goldblum

Things tend to happen in threes, so when rumors hit the internet that the Law & Order: Criminal Intent star died on the same day as Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, fans were panic-stricken. But soon after, Jeff appeared on The Colbert Report to laugh off the fake story.

“No one will miss Jeff Goldblum more than me,” he quipped. “He was not only a friend and a mentor, but he was also, um, me.”

Flynetonline.com

Tom Cruise

The Top Gun star was actually in New York City when 2010 rumors spread that he fell from the Kauri Cliffs.

“This is completely not true,” Cruise’s publicist told E! News at the time. “Tom is not in New Zealand nor has he been there recently. This is erroneous and unreliable Internet garbage.”

Shutterstock

Miley Cyrus

These rumors came in like a wrecking ball.

Miley spent the latter half of 2008 debunking false rumors, including one that a truck drove straight into her car and another that she was killed by a drunk driver. However, none of them were true and she’s still just being Miley.

John Sciulli / Staff / GETTY IMAGES

Sinbad

In 2007, a prankster wrongfully declared on Wikipedia that Sinbad, whose real name is David Adkins, died of a heart attack. However, a spokesperson for the website noted, “Somebody vandalized the page.”

Meanwhile, a rep for the comic told Reuters, “Sinbad is healthy, well and enjoying life!”

Will Ferrell

After a 2006 rumor inaccurately claimed the Anchorman star died in a paragliding accident, he didn’t pay it too much attention.

“Not much to say other than we heard and read about it this morning and reacted accordingly,” Ferrell’s publicist told E! in an email at the time. “There was no point in trying to track [the source] down as it was obviously a hoax.”

D. Kambouris / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

Justin Timberlake & Britney Spears

Back in 2001, a set of Texas DJs caused a nationwide panic when they reported the then-couple were in a car accident that left the *NSYNC alum in a coma and the pop princess dead. However, their reps slammed the false gossip.

“There is no truth to the rumor circulating around the world that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were involved in a car accident on Tuesday in Los Angeles,” a rep from their label at the time told E!. “Spears and Timberlake are in great health.”

Ethan Miller / Staff / GETTY IMAGES

Paul McCartney

A conspiracy theory claimed the Beatles member died in 1966 and was replaced by a look-alike. However, Paul has denounced the rumor many times, including in a Saturday Night Live skit where the now-late comedian Chris Farley asked him about the hoax and the musician confirmed, “Yeah, I wasn’t really dead.”

For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App