The picture that Bill Cosby posted on his Twitter account after the death rumors started (Photo: Twitter)
Bill Cosby is not dead, despite the flood of Twitter and Facebook rumors that the comedian had died earlier this week.
“Bill Cosby dead” quickly became a trending topic on social networking sites Monday and a Facebook group “R.I.P. Bill Cosby” popped up and quickly garnered over 315,000 likes.
To prove he is alive and well, Cosby simply posted on Tuesday a picture of himself from “The Cosby Show” and tweeted “I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like this one!”
The administrator of the “R.I.P. Bill Cosby” group finally came clean late Tuesday.
“My name is Jonathan Gorman and I am the page admin/creator. With the recent slowdown of likes and high amount of attention from news sources (mostly terrible gossip websites), I have come to the conclusion that I should tell you all the truth. Bill Cosby is not deceased. I made around 315 THOUSAND people angry.”
“I love you all for making me laugh at your stupidity for the past day and a half. You’re great,” he went on to say, adding that this wouldn’t be the last celebrity death he would make up.
The group became flooded with angry messages from fans, and Gorman later made a post that suggested he may face legal trouble for the prank.
The 73-year-old actor, who is best known for “The Cosby Show” and Jello commercials is no stranger to death hoax. In August 2010, Cosby actually called into CNN to dispel the rumors.
“I don’t want [whoever spread the rumor] to do this anymore, because this is my fourth time being reported [dead],” the actor said, adding that he was responding to the rumor because one of his close friends believed the rumor and was left in tears.
“I don’t know. Maybe a psychiatrist will say I’m feeding [the rumor starter’s] ego, but I just want to say to friends of that person: Just tell him to stop, because it isn’t funny.”
