Once again Sylvester Stallone 71, is not dead. In fact, he's going strong, but with the current social shadow culture of social media trolling, it seems he's a target, for whatever reason. This is not the first time, and keep in mind he is not the only one either.
The story of the hoax is he died after allegedly hiding a struggle with prostate cancer.
Sylvester Stallone responded by dealing out a fake obituary to followers, the photo dramatically edited giving him a deathly visage, Stollon wrote, with it, "Please ignore this stupidity… Alive and well and happy and healthy… Still punching!"
His brother Frank Stallone went to Twitter after the trolling post hit the web, angrily stating and tagging right-wing media, "Rumors that my brother is dead are false. What kind of sick demented cruel mind thinks of things like this to post? People like this are mentally deranged and don’t deserve a place in society.'
Rumors that my brother is dead are false. What kind of sick demented cruel mind thinks of things like this to post? People like this are mentally deranged and don’t deserve a place in society.@FoxNews @seanhannity @greggutfeld
— Frank Stallone (@Stallone) February 19, 2018
Frank Stallone also put up the video, 'Sly death a total hoax, not funny not cool' and reacted to the troll meme saying, 'I made this video to dispel the rumors that my brother Sylvester is dead. That is so ridiculous, demented... These are people that menace the society. They are useless in society. So Stallone power goes on," according to the Daily Mail.
Why do people time and time again believe the troll propaganda? Because someone else said it. A slew of troll memes and fake news tried to real in viewers with the death joke. One person tells another person, and they believe it, because, well, it's been posted on the internet, so they post messages mourning the actor based on the idea that what was said was true.
The origin of the hoax is unclear but the rumor mills and sewing circles were revved up. One joke leads to another. Troll photos were set up to make it look like Stallone was dying with digital editing, according to the Independent.
This is a classic case of trolling -- set up a horrible joke and make it seem official and if people are off guard they will believe and pick it up. What it also hints at is that American's tend to believe rumors immediately, or will hype the rumor for more laughs.
This rumor of my brothers death really upset a lot of people today including me and my mother. Have we become a diseased society, with mass shootings so much discord and hatred . Things must change or we’re heading for certain disaster @seanhannity
— Frank Stallone (@Stallone) February 19, 2018
But the fact it can be spun into seeming truth really shows that the American conscious can be hacked easily by any troll with any joke, and what this calls for is for each individual to be a little skeptical of what they believe, and to look to accredited sources (not Wikipedia) for facts.
In the meantime, let's enjoy some real fun from Sly himself:
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