She's the Victim of Another Death Hoax

Sadly, this isn't the first time the Internet has tried to convince people that Miley Cyrus is dead. On Saturday, a headline made the rounds declaring that Miley Cyrus had died from an overdose along with an alarming picture that some might have recognized as coming from "Blonde Superfreak Steals the Magic Brain", the music video Cyrus did with the Flaming Lips and Moby. Those who clicked on the headline to find out more information were unwittingly putting money in the pockets of the scammers spreading the rumor.

The hoax was perfectly timed to be at its most believable. In the first place, Cyrus, who is notoriously addicted to her Instagram and Twitter feed, has been quiet on both sites since Friday, July 18. In the second place, Cyrus was in the hospital in April due to the allergic reaction that caused her to cancel shows on her Bangerz tour. (The fact that not even her hospitalization stopped her from tweeting and posting pictures to Instagram also gave the story more credibility.) Then, of course, there was the trippy Flaming Lips collaboration video she did that provided the perfect screencap for such a horrifying story.

Hollywood Life reports that they have gotten in touch with one of Cyrus' close friends, who not only states that Cyrus is alive and well but also that Cyrus finds the entire death hoax hilarious and is not responding to it deliberately. "Miley is just laying low and hanging out with her new dog and just relaxing. She is aware of the death hoax and thought it was actually pretty funny. By not responding, she thinks it is that much more of a joke because people are continuing to believe it."

The last time that a death hoax began to circulate surrounding Cyrus was in August 2013, when a false rumor that Cyrus had committed suicide due to traumatic stress made the Internet rounds. When Cyrus was hospitalized, rumors theorized that she was actually there for a drug overdose and not an allergic reaction, so apparently it was only a hop, skip, and a jump for a death hoax to be built on that same premise.

Cyrus still has yet to update her social media sites or respond to the rumors in any way, but at least we can rest assured that she is alive and well for now. Celebrity death hoaxes are never a joke (unless, apparently, you are Cyrus and the subject of one), especially one being circulated intentionally with the purpose of making the collaborators money off the grief of young fans. Not cool, Internet. Not cool.