Internet Death Hoax Hits Jeff Goldblum, Harrison Ford

Wonderwall, Friday, June 26, 2009, 10:43am (PDT)

By Kat Giantis

On a day that saw the sad passing of both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, the Internet tried to claim the lives of two more stars. As the Web exploded with news of Jackson's death on Thursday afternoon, reports rapidly began spreading that Harrison Ford and Jeff Goldblum had also met tragic ends.

Thankfully, both actors are alive and well.

"Reports that Jeff Goldblum has passed away are completely untrue," his rep tells the New York Daily News. "He is fine and in Los Angeles."

Related: Stars react on Twitter to Michael Jackson's death

Turns out Goldblum, 56, and Ford, 66, are the latest victims of the same hoax that falsely heralded the untimely ends of Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise. Urban legend debunking site Snopes.com traces the tales back to FakeAWish.com, which lets you enter any name in order to generate a bogus story from an existing news template.

Ford was supposedly lost at sea when his luxury yacht sank off the coast of Saint Tropez "after fire erupted on board as a result of turbulent waters and high winds," a situation we're pretty certain the danger-accustomed Indiana Jones could easily escape from.

Goldblum, meanwhile, was said to have taken an accidental 60-foot plummet off the Kauri Cliffs while filming in New Zealand, the same perilous precipice that was rumored to have claimed Cruise in 2008 and Hanks in 2006.

Related: The Top 10 Ways We Remember Michael

Goldblum caught the brunt of the hoax, with reports of his alleged demise circulating so widely via Twitter that even Kevin Spacey felt obliged to check them out, Tweeting that he had contacted the actor's manager to confirm he was fine and urging everyone to "stop these stupid rumors."

New Zealand police were also bombarded with calls about the alleged cliff dive, prompting them to release a statement saying "there is no such incident and police have no information to provide."

Unfortunately, an Australian news show didn't get the memo and announced on the air that the "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" star had purportedly fallen to this death (see the clip here).

Ford and Goldblum are currently shooting the comedy "Morning Glory" together, and you'll be happy to know that both continue to live life to the fullest. The former popped the question to longtime love Calista Flockhart in March, while the latter has lately been spied puckering up with a 21-year-old actress.