Noam Chomsky, George Soros, Simon Cowell, Jimmy Fallon, Jerry Lee Lewis, Queen Elizabeth II, Dionne Warwick, Clint Eastwood, Barack Obama, Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift, Celine Dion, Lindsay Lohan, Gabourey Sidibe, Nick Jonas, Justin Bieber, Dwayne Johnson, Abe Vigoda, Zach Braff, Macaulay Culkin, Axl Rose, Michael Jordan, Martin Lawrence, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carlos Santana, Robert Redford, Chevy Chase, Sean Penn

Fake news comes for everyone, especially the rich and famous. It seems like every day there's another fake story about a celebrity or public figure. However, false rumors take on new weight when it comes to celebrity deaths. Many celebs have been reported dead, when in reality they're alive and breathing.

Ailing former President Jimmy Carter fell victim to the death hoax in recent days. A letter claiming to be from "the office of Jimmy Carter" announcing his death began to circulate the internet on July 23, but was quickly proven to be a fake. The supposed statement gave itself away by including a paragraph that criticized policies Carter implemented while he was president. Carter's family confirmed that he is still hanging on and receiving hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he has been since 2023. Carter is 99 years old and his health has been declining since the death of his wife, Rosalynn Carter, in November 2023.

Click on to meet the other celebs and public figures who were falsely reported dead.

Noam Chomsky

The 95-year-old philosopher and linguist has had a home in Brazil since 2015, and had been in hospital in Sao Paulo recovering from a stroke he suffered in 2023 when rumors of his death started trending on X. Popular publications like Jacobin, the British newspaper The New Statesman, and the Brazilian news site Diario do Centro do Mundo published his obituaries on June 18. However, when the Associated Press reached out to Chomsky's wife, Valeria Wasserman Chomsky, she responded, "No, it is false." In fact, the Beneficencia Portuguesa hospital in Sao Paulo where he had been hospitalized said in a statement that Chomsky had been discharged on Tuesday to continue his recovery at home.

George Soros

George Soros, a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist famous for starting his own hedge funds and then donating 80% of his wealth, was falsely pronounced dead on the internet on May 14, 2023. The words "George Soros dead" went viral after a so-called "conspiracy theorist" named Cillian tweeted a breaking news announcement that George Soros died of a "violent heart attack." Cillian attributed the news to Politics For All Ireland, another fake account on social media, and his tweet, from his handle CilComLFC, was viewed by more than 745,000 people. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first death hoax for Soros, as Reuters mistakenly published his obituary in 2013.

Simon Cowell

On December 1, 2022, a false news story started circulating that 'America's Got Talent' creator Simon Cowell had died. A YouTube video showed a coffin surrounded by white flowers and a large photo of Cowell on an easel beside it. Former President Bill Clinton appears to stand before the coffin in a facemask paying his respects. The video title claimed to have breaking news about the death of Simon Cowell, but of course, the media mogul and presenter is alive and well. In fact, he appeared at the yearly Royal Variety Performance in London along with a host of royals and other celebrities on the very day he was reported dead. The photo used in the video was actually photoshopped from the 2021 funeral of baseball legend Hank Aaron, which Bill Clinton did attend.

Jimmy Fallon

The hashtag #RIPJimmyFallon started trending on Twitter the night of November 15, 2022, and 'The Tonight Show' host was quite surprised to read the news, considering that he is alive and well. The trend comes as yet another collective joke mocking Elon Musk's poor handling of his recently purchased platform. Fallon himself tweeted, "Elon, can you fix this? #RIPJimmyFallon.” Most people were intentionally demonstrating how Musk's decision to fire so many employees involved with content moderation has led to a skyrocketing amount of fake news, but others actually thought the TV host had passed. The more mischievous ones in on the prank even tweeted the hashtag with photos of different TV hosts like James Corden.

Jerry Lee Lewis

'Great Balls of Fire' singer Jerry Lee Lewis was falsely reported dead on October 26, 2022. "He's alive," a spokesperson for Lewis' management company told NBC News. "TMZ reported erroneously off of a bull**** anonymous tip." In a surprising twist, the singer did actually pass away two days later on October 28, aged 87.

Queen Elizabeth II

Prior to her actual death on September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II was reported dead after contracting COVID-19 during the pandemic, and again in March of 2022 after she hadn't been seen in public for a few weeks due to poor health.

Dionne Warwick

Legendary singer Dionne Warwick joined Twitter for the first time at age 80, and was an instant sensation. When false rumors started to circulate that she had died, she shared one of the reports on Twitter with the caption "Oh no!"

Clint Eastwood

In 2019, rumors spread like wildfire that Eastwood had died of a heart attack. But this was not the first time the actor had been declared dead, as there was a similar report in 2017.

Barack Obama

In July 2011, the Fox News Twitter account was hacked, with the hackers tweeting that Obama had been assassinated.

Avril Lavigne

In 2003, it was rumored that Avril Lavigne had killed herself. The rumors resurfaced in 2017, with a viral Twitter thread speculating that Lavigne had been replaced by a lookalike.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift reportedly died in a car accident in 2009, the same year that she had a fatal reaction to sleeping pills, according to two fake news stories.

Celine Dion

Celine Dion has seen many rumors about her own death. "The thing that worries me is my mum," she told Digital Spy, "It makes me a little mad."

Lindsay Lohan

In July 2011, rumors that Lindsay Lohan had died started spreading online.

Gabourey Sidibe

The talented actress was the target of a death hoax back in March 2016. She said her "version of hell is people believing poorly written articles about me."

Nick Jonas

The Jonas Brother was hit with two death hoaxes in 2009. One claimed he died of cardiac arrest, the other said he had heart failure at a strip club.

Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber has been hit with many fake death reports. Rumors about him dying circulated in 2009, 2010, and 2012.

Dwayne Johnson

The Rock reportedly died while filming a stunt in 2014. "I would love to meet the person who is starting rumors of my death - to show them how a dead foot feels up their a**," he wrote on Twitter.