A 'Pawn Star' Death Hoax?

Celebrity death hoax alert! Pawn Stars star Austin “Chumlee” Russell is very much alive, contrary to Internet rumors. Oh, thank goodness! Wednesday, eBuzzd reported that Chumlee passed away due to “an apparent heart attack.” Yeah, the source is pretty sus (for example, the site says Phil Collins recently lost his arm in an accident. Hm. I'm 99.999% certain this is a heap of bullshit), but some fans assumed the worst was true.

But it wasn't (and isn't) true! On Wednesday, Chumlee debunked the rumor with a tweet: "@chumlee_: May we live long, Rich forever."

Costar Rick Harrison also chimed in via Twitter: "@GoldSilverPawn: .@chumlee_ is ALIVE & WELL! He is 101 lbs down & in the best health of his life! Thanks for your concern! He is filming today at GS Pawn."

Whenever I read about celeb death hoaxes, I can’t help but think about all of the panicked and concerned text messages the target of the hoax must receive. Like, imagine waking up to hundreds of texts asking if you're alive. (I'm guessing that's what happens. I'm not a celeb, nor have I ever been involved in a celeb death hoax, so I'm pulling this out of my arse. But I have to think a lot of people would try to get ahold of the person.) That would be incredibly alarming. I’m very groggy when I first wake up, so instead of assuming a hoax had happened, I’d interpret those texts to mean that I was in limbo. It’d be a very surreal few minutes until I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and snapped out of my drowsy haze.

Chumlee also posted a pic on Wednesday:

What a dumb and alarming rumor. So glad it was nothing more!

Images: chumlee_/Instagram