FALSE: Dwayne Johnson ‘dies after a terrible stunt attempt’

Rappler.com

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FALSE: Dwayne Johnson ‘dies after a terrible stunt attempt’
There is no report of actor Dwayne Johnson's alleged death from BBC News, the supposed 'source' cited in the viral claim

Claim: American-Canadian actor and former professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson allegedly died at 47 after a “horrifying” failed stunt attempt.

Several websites spread this claim, saying that the stunt crew failed to rescue Johnson, “resulting in negligence.” The websites show a video with the BBC News logo on the thumbnail. They also claim that the video shows the “actual footage” of the supposed “terrible stunt attempt failure.”

When the video is clicked, it just plays for a few seconds then requires the viewer to share the post on their own Facebook accounts to “uncover” the rest of the clip. Among the websites that spread this claim are:

  • bbc.247updatednews.com
  • bbcworld.online-2day.com
  • celebrity.livenewstv-247.com
  • latestnews.balitabroadcast.info
  • news.live-br0adcast.com
  • t0pnews.livebr0adcast.com
  • todays.news-on-socialmedia.com
  • trendnews.livebr0adcast.com
  • wwfnews.network-tv.info

Facebook Claim Check flagged the links from these websites, which were first shared last Wednesday, November 13. Claim Check is Facebook’s tool that identifies potentially dubious posts spread across the platform. As of writing, Claim Check has flagged at least 240 unique links with this claim.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: Johnson is still alive, which is evident through his official social media accounts. There is also no legitimate news outlet that reported on his supposed death.

BBC News did not report on Johnson’s death, as implied in the viral posts. UK-based newspaper Metro, however, reported that this is already the 3rd death hoax concerning the actor – the first was in 2011 and another was in 2014.

BBC News’ official website can be accessed at https://www.bbc.com or https://www.bbc.co.uk/.

Johnson is also still active on his verified Instagram and Twitter accounts after his death hoax first appeared on November 13. As of writing, his most recent post was shared on Tuesday, November 19. He has shared 8 other posts on his Instagram account from November 13 until November 19.

Rappler has debunked several celebrity death hoaxes this year, including Celine Dion, Shaina Magdayao, Claudine Barretto, and Bamboo Mañalac. The websites that spread false claims about these celebrities have the same approach as the domains mentioned above. – Pauline Macaraeg/Rappler.com

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.

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