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By Megan Cartwright
Associate News Editor
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Jimmy Fallon is not dead, despite #RIPJimmyFallon trending on Twitter.
The death hoax came about after a post appearing to be from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon started making the rounds on the social media platform.
It read, "It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of late night legend, husband, and father of two, Jimmy Fallon. 1923-2022."
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The tweet also included a photo of Fallon with his dog Gary.
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Of course, it should be noted that the Saturday Night Live star's birth year was incorrect. Fallon was not born in 1923 but in 1974, making him 48 years old, not 99.
Despite the error, more than 31,000 tweets using the hashtag #RIPJimmyFallon started circulating on Twitter by Wednesday morning—with many paying tribute to the host.
Video creator Solid JJ, who boasts more than 95,000 followers on the platform, shared a screenshot of the post in question along with the caption, "Wait what the f*** I thought it was just a gag lmao rip I guess."
"#RIPJimmyFallon. Taken too soon," someone else said, while another wrote, "Taken from us too young #RIPJimmyFallon."
Over the years, numerous celebrities have been victims of death hoaxes including Joe Rogan, Donald Trump, Bill Cosby, Sir Paul McCartney, Beyoncé and Tom Cruise.
It wasn't until Fallon, himself, posted on his personal Twitter account that people learned his death wasn't real.
"Elon, can you fix this? #RIPJimmyFallon," the dad of two—who shares daughters Winnie, 9, and Frances, 7, with wife Nancy Juvonen—tweeted, referring to new Twitter owner Elon Musk.
The Tesla CEO, 51, began the acquisition of Twitter in April and officially gained control of the company in October. Since then, there has been an increase in disinformation on the platform following a slew of firings—including those who dealt with content moderation.
Musk also announced a Twitter Blue subscription service, which allowed users to pay $8 per month for a blue tick.
As a result, fake "verified" accounts using the names of celebrities, politicians, businesses and more quickly started appearing on the platform.
In one instance, an account using the name and logo of the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co. tweeted: "We are excited to announce insulin is free now."
The phony tweet led the brand's stock to drop from $368 a share to $346, erasing billions in market cap.
Eli Lilly and Co. later issued an apology for those who were duped by the impersonator.
"We apologize to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Lilly account," the company wrote via its official account. "Our official Twitter account is @LillyPad."
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