The American television personality and comedian Steve Harvey was hit with a bogus AI story about his death on Wednesday, which triggered a wave of angry reactions from his fans.
The Family Feud host, 67, who also fronts the ABC daytime courtroom series Judge Steve Harvey, is very much alive and well, contrary to a story that went viral on Tuesday (18 December).
According to The Wrap, an AI-generated story titled “Steve Harvey Passed Away Today: Remembering The Legacy Of A Comedy Legend” was reportedly posted on “Trend Cast News,” with a future publishing date of 19 December.
It was then said to have been shared on the news roundup site NewsBreak, with the story soon spreading to social media and rising in Google search trends.
Although Harvey has not released an official statement on the issue, he has been very active on his own social media channels, posting several messages to fans on X/Twitter and Facebook.
“Throwing it back to Christmas moments filled with love, laughter, and reflection. Grateful for my rock, my queen, Marjorie. Every year, every memory, every blessing,” Harvey wrote in one Facebook post, sharing a holiday picture with his wife.
A NewsBreak spokesperson told The Independent: “NewsBreak is an information platform that aggregates content from a wide range of sources, including leading news outlets. Our team investigates any content flagged as harmful or misleading and acts swiftly to remove anything that violates our Community Standards. We have removed the article in question and sincerely apologise to Mr Harvey and his family for any grief that it has caused.”
Although Harvey is alive, many fans still voiced their anger about the fake news spreading so quickly.
“IS STEVE HARVEY DEAD WTF IS GOING ON!” wrote one person.
A second fan said: “The internet really need to stop playing with people’s lives. That false ass news about Steve Harvey being dead wrong.”
Another person joked: “If @TMZ doesn’t say Steve Harvey is dead, he’s not dead.”
Bizarrely this isn’t the first time that Harvey has been subjected to a death hoax. According to fact checkers Snopes, Harvey have been the victim of numerous fake death stories, all of which have been debunked.
In July 2023, Harvey even responded to one with a meme about himself.
Me seeing that Rip Harvey is trending pic.twitter.com/n6UcHpP9JN
— Steve Harvey (@IAmSteveHarvey) July 18, 2023
In December 2023, a disgruntled Ozzy Osbourne was forced to debunk reports of his demise, after stumbling across his own image in an “in memoriam” video online.
The Black Sabbath frontman can be heard in an episode ofThe Osbournes podcast informing his family about the video.
“I put it on and I died!” he said. “The thing on YouTube, which goes, ‘Celebrities Who Have Died Today,’ and there’s a picture of me.”
