|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Claim: Several Facebook pages claimed TV presenter, Steve Harvey, is dead.
Verdict: False! The claim is a death hoax from 2023 that is being recirculated on Social media as recent.
Full text
Some social media pages have shared posts claiming popular TV presenter, Steve Harvey had passed on.
DUBAWA observed that these posts have been circulating on social media since July 2024. However, they recently gained traction in Aug and Sept, featuring various images of the presenter, as seen here, here, and here.
It is not unusual for social media users to re-share news about the death of celebrities, particularly their favourites with wishes attached. But is Mr Harvey dead as claimed?
Considering the profile of the media personality and the potential impact of the claim, DUBAWA probed it to uncover the truth.
Verification
The term ‘RIP Steve Harvey’ in the Facebook search bar brought up results that dated back to July 2024. The posts contained pictures of the TV presenter with a candlelight attached to it, typical of an obituary.
DUBAWA also observed that graphics containing the death hoax listed the presenter’s years of birth and death as 1957 to 2024.
A keyword search on Google showed the trend was not new. The same death hoax went viral in 2023, which was debunked by the TV presenter at the time.
DUBAWA observed that some pages about Mr Harvey’s death included links to a different article — a clickbait.
Meanwhile, a search on Mr Harvey’s social media pages showed there is no such occurrence as of the time of filing this report.
The last post on his Facebook page was made Sept 25, days after the claim was being circulated. Also, there are recent photos and videos regarding Mr Harvey’s well-being against what the viral posts suggest. There are also recent posts on his Instagram and X handles.
Conclusion
Mr Harvey is not dead as claimed. The viral posts suggesting his death are recirculated materials from the 2023 death hoax about the media personality.
