Following a social media death hoax that lasted all afternoon, Sylvester Stallone proved he was still among the living Monday evening in an Instagram video.
It’s not exactly clear how the rumor started. The story especially seemed to gain traction on Facebook and Instagram Monday, and as word of Stallone’s death disseminated from feed to feed, fans started posting memorial statuses for the actor in celebration of his life and career. Rocky quotes and Rambo pics were piling up fast, but when Stallone-heads started checking Twitter to verify the news, the story was nowhere to be found. How could the actor be dead on one platform and alive on another?
On top of that first wave of “Rest in peace” posts, there was a second wave of “Wait, what’s going on?” posts, which may have algorithmically boosted the news:
https://twitter.com/httpmensa/status/965465916342521857
Sylvester Stallone is somehow dead on Facebook, but he's alive on Twitter… 🤷🏽♂️ pic.twitter.com/CK6ObIOkbi
— Series ‘Baj (@Engr_Series) February 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/unfenty/status/965535839194202112
This isn’t the first time the 71-year-old Creed II star has faced death rumors. In 2016, a similar story circulated on social media, and Stallone didn’t bother to shoot it down at the time.
Celebrity death hoaxes aren’t too uncommon, but this repeat death hoaxes club is slightly more elite—so this time around he apparently decided to nip the issue in the bud.
In an Instagram post on Monday, the actor offered screenshots of a memorial post and wrote, “Please ignore this stupidity.”
“Alive and well and happy and healthy,” he continued. “Still punching!”
https://instagram.com/p/BfYrkJwDINl/?utm_source=ig_embed
A couple hours later, he followed up with a video of himself pranking his teenage kids Sistine and Sophia.
“It’s so great to be back from the dead!!!” he joked in the caption.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfZWQGzj73I/?taken-by=officialslystallone
So there you have it, folks: Sylvester Stallone is still alive. Again.