MELBOURNE: Jack Black has become the latest star to become a victim of a celebrity death hoax after a series of tweets claimed that the actor had passed away.
The official Twitter account for Black’s band Tenacious D’s tweet that said, “I’m sad to officially announce the death of Jack Black at the age of 46, rest in peace brother” took over the internet on June 5.
To make matters worse, a second tweet an hour later sent out the hashtag “#RIPJackBlack,” while a third read “It is with a heavy heart I am to announce that Jack Black passed away last night at 3:37am. The cause of death is yet unknown.”
The announcement shocked fans, but many wondered if it could be a Twitter hack, given the lack of detail, spelling and grammar errors and absence of other credible reports. And it appears they are right.
The hacking was later confirmed by Tenacious D themselves, who said “We had our Twitter account hacked. We can assure you that Jack is ALIVE and WELL and that this was a sick 'prank’.”
John Konesky, the band's guitarist, also slammed the faux death announcement on his own Twitter account, writing, “Than[sic] s--- ain't true! They're working on fixing it!”
Other tweets pointed to Twitter account @Ruthless, which appears to have gained control of the Tenacious D account.
“RT if I fooled you all!” @Ruthless tweeted, which was quickly retweeted by Tenacious D.
Black last appeared on the big screen in ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ and was recently roped in for the Jumanji remake.