14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since the now (in)famous Taylor Swift incident at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, rapper Kanye West has been keeping a very low profile. In fact, he’s been putting so few public appearances, that some even suggest he’s run away to India looking for spiritual guidance. While the India rumor is still pending confirmation, one thing is certain about Kanye: he did not die hours ago in a terrible car crash, as NME can confirm.
The hoax seems to have been started on Twitter, where Kanye is also an active member. From there, it spread on the Internet to more reliable and reputed outlets, until fans no longer knew what to believe and, in turn, took to the Internet to find answers. Thus, “RIP Kanye West” became the trendiest topic on Twitter in a matter of just a few hours, until girlfriend Amber Rose took it upon herself to set the record straight, also on Twitter.
“This RIPKanyeWest topic is not funny and it’s NOT TRUE!” an angry Rose tweeted. “He has people like myself and his family that love him very much. It’s in extreme poor taste to have that as a trendy topic. It’s totally disrespectful to make up a story like this, we’re all human and we all make mistakes and to say someone died cuz of a mistake is ridiculous. U wouldn’t want someone to say that about u.” the model further added.
In all seriousness, it’s no wonder fans fell for the “Kanye West Is Dead” rumor, since it did seem very believable, like most other hoaxes of this type. According to Sophos, the news item was forwarded on emails but was mostly spread via Twitter and Facebook, and, at first sight, looked genuine enough to make even the most loyal fans wonder whether it did speak the truth. However, those looking for some form of confirmation could have found it in the text itself.
“A bizarre car crash in Los Angeles involving two luxury cars early this morning rapper Kanye West dead, a second injured, a third arrested for gross vehicular manslaughter and a fourth person was detained by police. A Los Angeles Police Department officer who witnessed the wreck and saw a red Ferrari and a white Porsche ‘spinning out of control’ on Jamboree Road between Bison Avenue and East Bluff Drive., Los Angeles Lt. Scott Fox said. The Ferrari ‘hit the curb and then collided with a pole.’ The Porsche came to a stop at the scene for a few seconds and then sped away, Fox said.” the item read (typos included). It also mentioned the vehicles suffered only “moderate damage.”