A new video titled "R.I.P. Lil Wayne, Rapper Found Dead" is going viral across Facebook and other social media platforms, leaving fans fearing the obvious.
Lil Wayne is not dead, however, despite what the video’s title would have you believe (and despite his very real health problems in recent years).
Not only is the hoax video (NOT the one below) a sham, given that the rapper is alive well, it may contain a virus as it continues to spread virally.
Wayne, who suffers from epileptic seizures, has been prematurely reported dead or near dead several times in the past, most famously this year.
Several celebrity gossip sites reported that he was being read his last rites after a seizure, and that may well have been true or simply a false report.
There’s a difference between that and a HOAX, though, which is what this is. The “R.I.P. Lil Wayne” video is simply made up for unknown reasons.
Well, one reason may be fairly obvious, actually, and sinister.
The “tribute video” to the rapper requires users to share it to Facebook before they can view it, which is a known spam template and can cause viruses.
Unfortunately, Lil Wayne’s death hoax may be more believable than many, given his history of epileptic seizures is to blame, so a lot of people freaked.
“The bad news is I’m an epileptic, I’m prone to seizures,” Lil Wayne revealed to Los Angeles hip-hop radio station Power 106 on March 28, 2013.
“Like, this isn’t my first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh seizure. I’ve had a bunch of seizures, y’all just never hear about them."
"Basically, I could’ve died, so that is why it was so serious. But the reason being for the seizures is just plain stress, no rest, overworking myself.”
He’s doing better than ever these days, though, and just released a new song with Chris Brown. So no actual death news to report here, fortunately.
Here’s hoping that’s the case for many, many years, too.