Fake News: Clint Eastwood is NOT Dead

Fact Check

  • by: Alan Duke

STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.

Fake News: Clint Eastwood is NOT Dead
Did Clint Eastwood recently die? No, that is not true: It is a celebrity death hoax. The "Dirty Harry" actor is alive and well as of September 1, 2019, contrary to a YouTube video that was viewed at least 80,000 times in the first three days after it was posted on August 28, 2019.

The celebrity death hoax originated from a video (archived here) posted by a week-old YouTube account that appears to be based in the Philippines under the title "R.I.P. Clint Eastwood 1930 -2019". The short video featured a montage of photos of Eastwood with text that read:

Clint Eastwood was born in 1930
Rest in peace
1930-2019
Clint Eastwood
CNN

The same YouTube account posted videos claiming that former U.S. President Barack Obama was in critical condition in a hospital and that actor Tom Cruise was killed while filming a stunt on a movie set.

The death hoax was spread through quite sophisticated technical means reminiscent of an earlier hoax from two years ago a later analysis by Lead Stories revealed:

Clint Eastwood Death Hoax Tech Eerily Reminiscent of 2017 Rowan Atkinson Death Hoax | Lead Stories

Earlier this week Lead Stories already reported that Clint Eastwood was NOT dead, despite what a YouTube video was claiming: Hoax Alert Did Clint Eastwood recently die? No, that is not true: It is a celebrity death hoax.

We wrote about youtube.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:

Updates:

  • 2019-09-02T22:32:40Z 2019-09-02T22:32:40Z
    Added link to technical analysis of the hoax

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  Alan Duke

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

Read more about or contact Alan Duke

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