If you’ve been on TikTok lately, you may have noticed a sudden uptick in celebrity death announcements. TikTok is known for starting trends, popularizing new music, and making rather questionable book recommendations at times. Why then, are we suddenly seeing so many dead celebrities all over the app?
While it’s true there’s more to TikTok than its trend-hopping reputation, this isn’t the app changing course and becoming the go-to news site for celeb death updates. Once again, TikTok has started another viral (and confusing) trend.
If you’re anything like us, you might be confused as to why people are telling family members that very much alive celebrities are dead. Where did this trend come from? Why are TikTok users using an oddly specific format to announce these fake deaths? How are people reacting to this admittedly messed-up trend? Let’s discuss, shall we?
What is the celebrity death hoax trend?
Around Christmas, some TikTok users began pranking their family members by telling them one of their favorite celebrities just died. The trend quickly picked up steam and soon spread to Twitter. The corresponding hashtag #celebritydeadprank has over 109 million views and continues to rise.
Like many TikTok trends, most of the videos follow the same format. One person announces the celebrity has died, followed by the age of the celebrity (i.e. “Bon Jovi dead at 60”) and films their family members’ reaction. The reactions vary from shocked to hilarious and many TikTok creators hopped on the trend to see how their family and friends would react. What really makes the trend funny, is when parents react to less mainstream celebrity deaths. One woman screams when told Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison is dead and another yells “no, no, no!” when told Zac Efron is dead at 35.
Where did the trend come from?
While there’s no clear start to the trend, it’s possible it takes inspiration from a recent Family Guy meme. On Christmas Day, a meme announcing Lois Griffin’s death went viral and the TikTok celebrity death hoax trend follows a similar format. Twitter user @minasdemon tweeted “Lois Griffin DEAD AT 43” and most of the trending videos also say the celebrity’s name followed by their age, as if reading from a news headline. It’s not clear which trend inspired which since both trends originated around Christmas time but it’s obvious there’s some overlap.
Not everyone is a fan of this trend though; some took to social media to voice concerns that the trend is unsettling. One Twitter user wrote “idk that fake celebrity death trend just don’t sit right with me” and another wrote “faking celebrities deaths for your parents reaction is the weirdest trend on tik tok. Cut it out.” Comments on trend compilation videos mostly find the videos funny but some reacted critically. One user replied “y’all are evil af and not in the funny way” under the most popular Twitter compilation and others agreed. A video posted by Angela Bassett’s son where he told his mother that her Black Panther co-star Michael B. Jordan had died caused a significant backlash, and prompted her son to post a follow-up video apologizing.
Regardless of your thoughts, the celebrity death hoax will likely peak in popularity before fading away like most TikTok trends. This isn’t the first time viral TikTok videos have sparked debate and it certainly won’t be the last.
