Did Simon Cowell Just Die Suddenly In Hospital?!

Did Simon Cowell just die suddenly in the hospital?! Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Updated @ 2023-08-10 : Added new examples, including updated MediaMass claim
Updated @ 2023-05-10 : Added more examples, including from MediaMass

Originally posted @ 2023-01-07

 

Claim : Simon Cowell Just Died In A Tragic Car Crash!

People are sharing YouTube and TikTok videos which claim that Simon Cowell just died suddenly in a hospital, with titles like :

5 minutes ago / Terrible devastation about “America’s Got Talent “Simon Cowell, tearful farewell.

5 Minutes Ago / The UNEXPECTED Death Of Simon Cowell / R.I.P. Legend

5 minutes ago! Millions of people cried over the sudden death of “America’s Got Talent” Simon Cowell.

3 hours ago/funeral took place/ Simon Cowell’s sudden passing left thousands of fans heartbroken

(RIP) Very Sad News 2 minutes ago in Chicago, “America’s Got Talent” Simon Cowell, He has been confirmed as…

40 minutes ago in Chicago, “America’s Got Talent” Simon Cowell, he has been confirmed as…

10 minutes ago in Chicago, “America’s Got Talent” Simon Cowell died suddenly at the hospital

10 minutes ago : We announce very sad news about Simon Cowell, he has been confirmed as..

5 minutes ago announced that simon cowell died at the hospital…???????? #viral #viralvideo

Simon Cowell Passed Away #Shorts

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Did Simon Cowell Just Die Suddenly In Hospital?!

 

Truth : Simon Cowell Did Not Die Suddenly In Hospital

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by people to generate income from page views and YouTube advertising, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : No Legitimate Media Outlet Reported His Death

These YouTube videos have been circulating for weeks and months, but people don’t seem to notice that no legitimate media has reported his death.

Never mind his wealth, Simon Cowell is a celebrity in his own right. Even if he did not die, the worldwide media would have reported on his car accident.

No legitimate media outlet reported that Simon Cowell was hospitalised, never mind dying suddenly in a hospital. That’s because it never happened!

Fact #2 : Simon Cowell Is Still Alive + Well!

Simon Cowell – the long-time judge on Britain’s Got Talent and America’s Got Talent is still very much alive and well, as of Wednesday, 9 August 2023, when he was seen on America’s Got Talent Season 18!

On that day’s episode, he posted a video of Japanese dance group Chibi Unity getting the Group Golden Buzzer!

The video shows the Chibi Unity dance, before all four judges – Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Howie Mandel, and Heidi Klum, as well as AGT host Terry Crews, jointly bestowed the Golden Buzzer.

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Fact #3 : The Photos Were Edited

I analysed the photos used in these videos, and traced the origin of four examples used in many of these videos.

This photo that shows Simon Cowell on a hospital bed, was edited from a real photo of a kidney transplant patient called Gerhard van Tonder. The photo was taken in October 2021 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Healthcare professionals will immediately notice that Simon Cowell is not intubated despite being mysteriously hooked up to a ventilator!

If you look carefully, you will also notice that Simon Cowell’s head is oddly larger than normal – to superimpose over Gerhard’s head in the real photo.

If you zoom into the fake photo, you can even see a white border around Simon Cowell’s head – a clear sign it was added to the photo.

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Did Simon Cowell Just Die In A Car Accident?!

The photo of this white SUV was taken on July 17, 2019 on Highway 6 near Freelton, Ontario, Canada. The driver was a 38 year-old woman, not Simon Cowell.

Did Simon Cowell Just Die In A Car Accident?!

This photo was also misappropriated from another car accident, this time in the Selma neighbourhood in the San Fernando Valley, on May 9, 2021.

The driver was a 57 year-old woman who died in that accident. Again, not Simon Cowell.

Did Simon Cowell Just Die In A Car Accident?!

This fake photo is a pretty good edit, albeit showing Simon Cowell smiling with his eyes closed – odd for someone who was dying or has already died.

But it was really a photo of Blake Bargatze, a 24 year-old man, who was being treated at a South Florida hospital for COVID-19 in March 2021.

Bargatze, unfortunately, did not qualify for the COVID-19 vaccine at that time, and got infected. His condition grew worse over time, and he eventually had to be placed on an ECMO machine to let his lungs heal.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and he ended up with a double-lung transplant in June 2021, to save his life.

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Did Simon Cowell Just Die In A Car Accident?!

Fact #4 : Simon Cowell Death Hoax Is Driven By Fake Fact Check Too

This Simon Cowell death hoax is, ironically, also being driven by a fake fact check article by the MediaMass Project, which keeps “updating” the dates in their fake fact check article:

News of television host Simon Cowell’s death spread quickly earlier this week causing concern among fans across the world. However the August 2023 report has now been confirmed as a complete hoax and just the latest in a string of fake celebrity death reports. Thankfully, the creator of Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor is alive and well.

Rumors of the television host’s alleged demise gained traction on Monday after a ‘R.I.P. Simon Cowell’ Facebook page attracted nearly one million of ‘likes’. Those who read the ‘About’ page were given a believable account of the British television host’s passing:

Their claim of a viral R.I.P. Simon Cowell Facebook page is false. There is no such Facebook page. It is their standard fake fact check spiel for fake celebrity deaths.

The statement from Simon Cowell’s unnamed rep confirming that he is not dead is exactly the same as statements from other reps of celebrities MediaMass claimed were victims of death hoaxes, like Celine Dion, Clint Eastwood, Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Toby Keith, Cristiano Ronaldo, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Justin Bieber, Robert Pattinson, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman, Dolly Parton, Lucy Liu, and Melanie Laurent.

He joins the long list of celebrities who have been victimized by this hoax. He’s still alive and well, stop believing what you see on the Internet.

Hidden in the description page for the MediaMass Project is a disclaimer that they are a “satire” website. That’s the usual “cover” for websites peddling fake news.

Regardless of their reasons, anything posted by MediaMass.net must be considered as fake news, until proven otherwise.

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Did Simon Cowell Just Die In A Car Accident?!

Fact #5 : This Is Just Fake Celebrity News

This is yet another example of fake celebrity news created to generate page views and money through advertising, just like these examples:

Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!

 

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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By Tara