Betty White Is Alive and Well, But Hoaxer May Wish He Were Dead

By Marc Schneider Posted Mar 3rd 2010 09:23AM

There are some people who you just shouldn't mess with, and one of them is 'Golden Girls' goddess Betty White. In the wee hours of Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, a dastardly hoax was perpetrated in the comments area of popular gossip blog Oh No They Didn't, where a screen-shot of a fake TMZ article was posted claiming the actress had died.

How'd she perish? The faux article said it was a mixture of drug abuse and foul play.

From there, the rumor spread like wildfire and quickly became a hot trend on Twitter and Google. Countering the silliness, White's rabid fans began posting whimsical #BettyWhiteFacts ("Betty White turned Tiger down" ... "Betty White taught MJ how to moonwalk") instead.

Of course, readers should have immediately known it was a hoax; the cause of death was about as believable as White's 'Golden Girls' character Rose Nylund being awarded the Nobel Prize in Science.

A blog called The Cutting Room Floor got to the bottom of the hoax early Wednesday. Though commenters on Oh No They Didn't claimed they had seen the article on TMZ, no such piece could be found on the popular Web site's homepage. Also, the font used in the fake did not match the one used by TMZ.

The offending post was eventually deleted by Oh No They Didn't, but the damage was done, and White's fans are calling for blood. Some common reactions on Twitter:

@loganX2: dear internet a betty white death hoax is never a joke!! thanks// i'll kill the internet for those remarks. Ordering a hit.

@LexiDV: Who would start a rumor Betty White died? Sick. May Sophia Petrillo curse you.

Several sites, including The LA Times' Ministry of Gossip, have put in calls for comment from White.

White has recently enjoyed a particularly high profile among younger people, courtesy of a memorable appearance at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, her performance in the hit film 'The Proposal,' a popular Super Bowl ad and a recent Facebook campaign to get her the hosting job at 'Saturday Night Live.'

Comments

(26)

Wednesday 03 March

By Skinnyminny2006

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Betty White, Gordon Lightfoot? Who's next in the fake death internet postings? Pa-leeze!!!!!

Saturday 06 March

By Lakisha

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I'm so tired of hearing about this old white thing, it's time for that old nasty thing to die and get it over with already.

By Lori

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Being the woman she is I am sure she will make light of this and move on. Betty White is one of a kind and hopefully has many more years left to entertain us and make us laugh.

Thursday 04 March

By peggy

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Amen Sister

By Michelle

Betty White can't die. She's immortal. The world may end if she dies.

By Kelli

Michelle, no human is immortal. All mankind from the beginning of Adam & Eve are mortal. Only God in heaven is immortal. Read your Bible. Ever since Adam & Eve, all mankind has passed away, can you name one single human that has lived since Adam & Eve & is still alive in 2010? Do not think so, did you go to dumb school?

By hughjassoliii

Don't worry about it, Michelle. Kelli obviously has her head buried deeply in her, uh, Bible. I didn't realize that it was a sin to laugh. It must be tough to go through life so self-righteous, and so miserable.

By Pres

Man, that Kelli girl.... I had a roommate named Kelli and she never laughed either!! I work in customer service and your the kind of people I hate talking to. And if you think about it, everyone is immortal in our memories!

By JIMMY

ABE VIGODA is immortal

Kelli, you have got to be the biggest idiot alive. You're the one that must have gone to dumb school. Michelle is clearly a fan and for her it will be a sad day when Betty is gone.

By SkyBlue

Kelli, Put your head back in your ... Bible and please STFU.

By wow

To Kelli,
you might not want to call somebody dumb when you can not see that that post was clearly sarcasm.

As for Betty White, she's funny and I wish her the best, and I wish she would be in more movies.

By Frank

Kelli ... get a grip.

Be safe.

By D. Suzanne Lutz

I believe in God too but I don't practice on others...learn to laugh,Kelli, it will make you a happier person, hopefully!

By Sharon

Oh Kelli lighten up. I am a born again Christian and love the Lord but Michelle was only joking. She knows no one is immortal.

By CB

It is pretty sick when someone decides to start a vicious rumor of someone saying they've died and what killed them. I hope the person or persons have the same thing done to them. Of course, it's probably someone without a life and trying to get attention by creating this crap.

By Patrick

People who believed this crap to begin with are not all there. It was a nasty thing to do, but I'm sure Betty will be able to make light of it.
As for this Kelli person get a god damn grip. It was just a post and Michelle is just a fan of Betty's just like the rest of us. And we wish that people like Betty could be immortal. But we are sensible people who know that's impossible. So there is no need for you ramble on about Adam and Eve. Besides people like you who are so vocal about the Bible are usually the biggest hypocrites.

By Jason

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OMG NO THEY DIDN'T!!!!, WHO CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Joe Buck

i am with you who cares.If it were not for allen ludden she would be just another.person.Like really who the hell cares.Lets pay more attention to our brave men and woman serving in the military

By rmtemsguy

Ahhhhh, Joe, you're one of those people, LOL! No matter what the topic is, everyone should be concentrating on the "brave men and women that serve our country". Don't get me wrong, I am proud of what they do for all of us, I am eternally grateful, BUT that doesn't have to be the ONLY topic of converstaion. It is OK to talk about other things.

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