Origins: Though his career is still in its early stages, teen Canadian singing sensation Justin Bieber has already been the subject of a number of death hoaxes. In August 2009 rumors spread on the Internet that he had committed suicide, with that false tale again aired in January 2010. In February 2010 claims were made in the online world that he'd been shot to death in a New York nightclub.
In June 2010 the 16-year-old was once again rumored to have kicked the bucket, that time from a drug overdose. The tale was spread by a web page (now removed by its host site) which displayed what appeared to be a news story on the FOX News site which said Bieber was discovered passed out on the couch in his home, then pronounced dead at Toronto East General Hospital within minutes of his being transported there, with early police reports indicating "that illegal drugs, namely cocaine, may be factors in the young singer’s condition."
The FOX look-alike page was a hoax; no such story had been run by that news agency.
