Jeremy Renner subject to sick viral death hoax

A twisted rumour spread across social media on Friday (23 June) that said Marvel actor Jeremy Renner had passed away from a "freak escalator accident."

He has not. It is simply yet another celebrity death hoax.

The image was originally shared on Twitter with a fake headline that read: "Jeremy Renner, actor, passes away at 52 from freak escalator accident."

The fake article is credited to The Guardian's deputy culture editor Sian Cain but appears to be a doctored screenshot from an article written back in March, as the two used the same image of the star. The original article covered Renner's snowplough accident that occurred in January.

The rumour seems to have started from user @weedhitter, whose original tweet has over 1 million views, according to Twitter.

The hashtag #ripjeremyrenner soon began trending on Twitter as a result of the fake headline, which later featured a community note letting users know that the Hawkeye actor was still alive.

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Whilst the hashtag was trending it seemed that most were in on the hoax, rather than spreading misinformation:

However, some didn't appreciate the rumour:

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