After prematurely -- and erroneously -- killing off celebrities like Paul McCartney, Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith, Twitter has once again perpetuated the false and early death of French chef Paul Bocuse.
Though it's unclear where the rumor started, ‘RIP Paul Bocuse' tweets started surfacing June 3.
And while it's since been changed, a Google search reveals that the chef's Wikipedia page listed his death as June 4.
Bocuse's people have confirmed that the chef, 86, has not passed to Fine Dining Lovers and food writer Elizabeth Auerbach, who took to Twitter to clear up the rumors.
"Paul Bocuse is alive and well, I've just spoken with the restaurant. They're very unhappy about the rumor on Twitter about his death.pls RT," posted Auerbach at 8 am GMT, June 4.
Meanwhile, a story posted on wannabetvchef.com from food writer and online cooking host Stuart Reb Donald also gave Bocuse a premature -- and erroneous -- eulogy. In the story, Donald says he received news of the passing from his friend Nathan Lyon's Facebook page. Lyon is a food TV host in the US and cookbook author.
Curiously, however, while the story was published June 3, the post dates Bocuse's death for the following day, on June 4.
Another site that describes itself as an "encyclopedia of death and dying" and which publishes ‘anticipated' obituaries before their death, Necropedia, also killed off Bocuse, time-stamping his death for June 4.
Angry Tweeps have been scolding their fellow Twitter community for using the service carelessly, saying, "Please stop retweeting #PaulBocuse death rumors unless you KNOW its true or have a very credible source," and "It's easier to kill a person than a rumour on twitter. Paul Bocuse is NOT dead!"
