2016 has been a pretty hard year for most. One of the many aspects it proved to be challenging was through celebrity deaths, as we saw icon after icon tragically killed during the past 12 months. This Christmas holiday was no exception, as singer George Michael passed away at age 53. Additionally, Star Wars actress and writer Carrie Fisher suffered a massive heart attack while on board a plane to Los Angeles. Luckily, Fisher is currently stable- although it now appears that another celebrity "death" occurred Christmas Day as well. Sony Music's official Twitter was hacked, and reported that pop star Britney Spears had died in some sort of accident.
The tweets, which have since been deleted from Sony's account, read as follows:
RIP @britneyspears #RIPBritney 1981-2016" and "Britney spears is dead by accident! We will tell you more soon #RIPBritney.
Of course, no new information was ever given, as the story was completely fabricated. Britney Spears is fine and well, and presumably spent her Christmas Holiday with her two sons and extended family. While the singer hasn't addressed the hoax personally, her manager made a brief statement to CNN about Britney's well being, and the craziness of this death rumor. He said,
I assume their account has been hacked. I haven't spoken to anyone... as of yet but I am certain their account was hacked. Britney is fine and well. There have been a few Internet clowns over the years who have made similar claims about her death, but never from the official Sony Music Twitter account.
There we go, ladies and gents. The princess of pop is doing just fine, and you can currently enjoy remixes of her new single "Slumber Party", which were released on the 23rd.
The official Twitter of songwriter Bob Dylan may have also been hacked, alongside Sony's. During the time that Sony tweeted about the fake death, Bob Dylan offered his condolences. All of the tweets in question have since been deleted, but it seems like more than a coincidence that Dylan and Sony were tweeting about Britney's death at the same time.
The rumor of Britney Spears' death is just the latest in a line of folks trying to rain on the pop singer's success. Her new album Glory has been widely praised by critics, and has also done rather well in regards to sales. Lifetime has filmed an unauthorized movie, Britney, which will bring some of the singer's darker times back into the limelight. It's surely reasons like these that Britney seems to guarded and nervous during public appearances; she's spent her whole life in the spotlight, and it's left her a bit shaken.
So while 2016 still has a few more days to take another legend like Gene Wilder, David Bowie, or Alan Rickman away from us, it appears that Britney Spears is safe from its clutches. At least we have that going for us.
