Jaden Smith and his dad, Will, have been reported to have died due to a car crash. The report titled “BREAKING: Will Smith and his Son Jaden Smith Died in a Crash after Truck and their Car Collided,” appeared on news feeds this weekend and many were shocked.
However, the report about their deaths is fake. Jaden and Will are once again victims of a death hoax - with headlines that serve as clickbait so that it redirects viewers to malicious websites.
Monsters and Critics pointed out that to make the news appear real, the group behind the death hoax used the CNN logo and they even posted a video where the popular news network appeared to be reporting the tragic story via a “breaking news” segment.
Jaden and Will Smith’s fake death story started on Dec. 7 and people who saw it were drawn to click the item because aside from the CNN logo, the photo of the supposed accident was included in the thumbnail. As of this article's posting, the video used for the fake news has already been viewed more than 800,000 times, indicating that the story is spreading at a fast rate.
The clip will only play for a few seconds and then links and ads for the visitors will appear. The uploader of this video will gain revenues and he is likely to earn a lot since news like these are sure to get attention and huge interest from the public.
The truth is, Jaden Smith and his dad Will are fine and very much alive. CNN did not report any car crash related to them and in fact, on Dec. 8, the “Alladin” actor even updated his Instagram about his activities the night he was reported to have died.
“I had the honor and privilege of speaking at an incredible event called the @worldsbigsleepout in Times Square last night,” Will wrote. “For those of you who don’t know, the event was started by an incredible dude named Josh Littlejohn as a way to end global homelessness through fundraising and awareness.”
In any case, using popular personalities to create fake news is a surefire way for a page to trend so death hoaxes about them are very common these days. Moreover, this isn't the first time Jaden Smith has been reported to have died, as the rapper has also fallen victim to death rumors as far back as 2016.
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