Britney Spears was the target of a death hoax that was spread by Sony Corp (ADR)’s (NYSE:SNE) Sony Music account on Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR).
The Britney Spears death hoax was the result of the Sony Music account on Twitter being taken over by hackers on Monday. The hackers sent out two Tweets from the account claiming that the entertainer had passed away. Both of the Tweets used the hashtag #RIPBritney.
One of the Tweets sent out by hackers in the death hoax claimed that Britney Spears fake death was the result of an accident. It promised to provide more details later. However, Sony regained control of the account and deleted the Tweets claiming the celebrity was dead.
Following the death hoax, Britney Spears took to Twitter herself to debunk the claims. She posted several photos of herself and has been active in telling her followers that it was nothing but a hoax. 2016 has seen many celebrities pass away and the hackers were likely hoping to ride off these real deaths to get users to believe the death hoax, reports USA Today.
The Britney Spears death hoax sent some Twitter users into a panic, but others noticed it was fake. Here’s what some TWTR users had to say about it.
- “PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS SOME SICK JOKE #RIPBritney #BRITNEYSPEARS”
- “‘Is dead by accident.’ GO HOME SONY, YOU’RE DRUNK. #RIPBritney ?”
- “I’m yelling #RIPBritney @SonyMusicGlobal is obviously hacked”
- “Another legend gone? 2016 cannot get anymore worse 🙁 #RIPBritney”
- “guys, chill. #RIPBritney is a lie.”
