According to the internet and news that has spread fast over social networking sites, actor Will Smith died from a fall off of a cliff in New Zealand over the weekend.
In reality, Will Smith is alive and well while the internet rumor is nothing more than a hoax that began on the site FakeAWish.com. The site allows visitors to input a first and last name and generate a false news story about the person. This time, it was Will Smith and a tragic death over the holiday weekend.
On May 30, reports surfaced online and spread rapidly across Facebook and Twitter that Smith had died while filming a movie in New Zealand. The report indicated that the actor had taken a sixty foot fall from a cliff that had resulted in his death. The rumors were not true and the story was one generated on the FakeAWish website.
This is not the first time that Smith has been the victim of a tragic accident according to internet rumors. In 2009 there was a hoax that stated Smith had flipped his Porsche while driving and been killed instantly.
New Zealand was the source of more than one false news story over the weekend as a report appeared on a PBS station that deceased rapper Tupac Shakur had been found alive and well in New Zealand over the weekend. It was later revealed that the site had been hacked and that the report was false and Tupac is, in fact, still deceased.
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