Journalist who insisted Queen was dead now roasted after admitting it isn't true

Jason Lee, the founder, and CEO of pop culture website Hollywood Unlocked,who insisted Queen Elizabeth II had passed away, has now admitted that he was incorrect - and people are roasting him for the error.

On Wednesday, the site posted an 'exclusive' article that claimed "sources at the Royal Kingdom" informed them that Her Majesty was found dead moments before she was scheduled to attend the wedding of British Vogue's editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful.

People flocked to the comments to refute and question the claim, which caused more confusion as another account posing as Hollywood Unlocked issued a retraction. Despite that, Lee doubled down on the claim.

"We don't post lies, and I always stand by my sources. Waiting for an official statement from the palace," he wrote in another post.

But now, Lee shared a link to a new story they published titled "Fact Check: 10 Reasons We Believed Queen Elizabeth Was Dead."

Within the story, written by Blue Telusma, one of the reasons they felt compelled to release the initial report was because of a source present at Enninful's wedding. The source apparently told Lee that they witnessed a call about the Queen's passing "had been confirmed to a high-profile attendee."

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Another reason laid out by the outlet suggested that with the Queen's positive Covid diagnosis and through the credibility of their original sources, Lee had a conversation with another source who understands the British military.

"This person confirmed directly to Lee that the palace had been locked down and all the top generals had been summoned to Windsor Castle 'for an undisclosed reason' just four hours before Hollywood Unlocked broke the news," the article said.

Towards the end of the report, they inserted an apology from Lee on Thursday afternoon, which said: "Although I've never been wrong when breaking a story because this involves the Queen, this is one time I would want to be. And based on Wednesday's report from the Palace, I can say my sources got this wrong, and I sincerely apologize to The Queen and the Royal Family."

Despite admitting and apologising for the error, people on social media told him there's "no way" to clean the situation up, while others questioned his journalistic skills.

Check out those responses below:

There is a formal protocol to announce the Queen's passing, which was revealed by "Operation London Bridge" in an article by POLITICO.

Once she does die, her private secretary will be informed, who then will give the information to the cabinet secretary and Privy Council Office. Afterwards, many UK officials and other foreign government officials will be notified.

Ultimately, both PA Media and the BBC will be the first major news outlets to break the news worldwide.

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