Is Josh Seiter from ‘The Bachelorette’ actually dead?

Not 24 hours after Bachelor Nation received the shocking discovery of Josh Sieter’s death from season 11 of The Bachelorette, new developments highlight a growing issue that continues to plague celebrities on the internet. 

On Aug. 28, a post to Sieter’s Instagram account declared the reality TV star dead at the age of 36 with the caption, “His fearless voice and indomitable spirit helped thousands of people in their darkest hour feel just a little alone. Although our heartache at Joshua’s passing pains us beyond measure, we find comfort in knowing that he is finally at peace.”

A cause of death was not provided. However, given Sieter’s open battle with mental health, it was believed there may have been a correlation between the two. Then, in a shocking turn of events no one could have predicted, another post went up to Sieter’s Instagram account less than 24 hours later, this one declaring the reality TV star very much alive. 

“Hey guys, as you can see I am alive and well. My account was hacked. For the last 24 hours, I have been trying desperately to get into it. Somebody was playing a cruel joke and mocking my mental illness and the struggles I’ve gone through with depression and suicide attempts and I’m sorry for all the pain they caused when they made that post. I just got back into my account. I am going to do all I can with my team to try to identify who was behind this, but again, I apologize for the confusion and I will update you guys as more facts come in. Thank you guys.”

As Seiter explains it, his account was hacked and the post that went live was not from him, his family, or anyone on his team. He expressed sorrow at any confusion or pain the post may have caused his followers, but vowed to get to the bottom of the situation and uncover who the rouge post belonged to. 

Seiter’s death hoax is the latest in a growing number of celebrities whose accounts have been hacked and used to spread false proclamations about their death. Lil Tay, the 14-year-old Canadian rapper and social media influencer experienced a similar situation earlier in the month. Like Seiter, a fraud posing as a family member published a post to Lil Tay’s account declaring her and her brother dead. The news of Lil Tay’s death spread like wildfire, but within 24 hours a separate post went live debunking the whole situation. 

Indeed, with two back-to-back instances of celebrities having their Instagram accounts hacked, it seems time that Meta step in to ensure every effort to protect its customers from cyber attacks is being enforced.