Twitter hoax kills off the very-much alive Morgan Freeman

By Herman WongDecember 16, 2010

Death by tweet once again. This afternoon CNN allegedly posted on Twitter that actor and voice of the cable news network had died: “Breaking News: actor Morgan Freeman has died in his Burbank home.” Within minutes the news spread through the Twitterverse, prompting online expressions of a Twitter "bummer":

Goodbye to another one of the greats RT @CNN: Breaking News: actor Morgan Freeman has passed away in his Burbank home.less than a minute ago via HootSuiteBorders
Borders

Except Freeman was plenty alive. CNN quickly issued a hundred and one word denial:

CNN did not report Morgan Freeman death. Rumor is false. CNN will aggressively investigate this hoax.less than a minute ago via webCNN
CNN

CNN also said it never sent out the original tweet.

So what happened? Slate dug through the Web to find answers and uncovered that the message originated from @originalcjizzle, "a guy with nearly 1,500 followers who is fond of calling people "jive turkeys.""

So there goes another Twitter death and resurrection. And what are we left with? Morgan Freeman alive! Some Twitter hearts broken. And of course the funny tweets.

Reports of Morgan Freeman 's demise are false -- TMZ has confirmed the actor is alive, kicking ... and definitel... http://bit.ly/ewB13jless than a minute ago via twitterfeedTMZ
TMZ

Who is @CNN to play God? That's Morgan Freeman's job.less than a minute ago via webAshley Burns
MayorBurnsy

In the span of 45 seconds, I just mourned Morgan Freeman, then celebrated that he's still alive. #fakeinternetdeathreportssuckless than a minute ago via webBill Simmons
sportsguy33