"Gene Hackman retired" became a trending topic, especially after Grantland posted an article to say that the actor has already passed away. The headline read, "The Greatest Living American Actor at 85: Gene Hackman is Gone, but Still in Charge."
The story sent the Internet into a frenzy, with fans starting to get concerned that one of America's legendary actors has died only a couple of days before he would have turned 85 years old. The article was posted on Jan. 28, and Hackman's birthday is just two days after, the 30th of January.
Thankfully, his representative has finally spoken up and confirmed to ABC News that Hackman is, indeed, "alive and well."
After it was established that Hackman was the latest victim of a celebrity death hoax, one that Grantland might have unknowingly started, the news outlet immediately edited its headline to say, "The Greatest Living American Actor at 85: Gene Hackman is Retired, but Still in Charge."
Although the death hoax report did not seem intentional, it still did some damage before it was corrected. Apparently, someone came up with the Facebook page and named it, "RIP Gene Hackman." The social media page read, "He will be missed, but not forgotten," as reported by ET Canada. "Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page."
Many had actually believed that Gene Hackman had physically retired from his life, that even celebrities got duped. Dylan McDermott of "Stalker" even took to Twitter to give his condolences and wrote, "Rest in peace, Gene Hackman. One of the Greats."
Of course, as soon as he realized that Hackman was alive after all, which was about an hour later; he deleted his previous post and wrote, "I guess Gene Hackman's death was a celebrity hoax. People have too much damn time on their hands."
