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The juicy gossip provided on the internet knows no bounds. Amid the speculation of breakups, temper tantrums and all-around bizarre behavior are the now oh-so-prevalent reports of celebrity deaths. It’s no coincidence that as the internet has expanded and become more commonplace in our lives, false rumors have become more prevalent, spreading like wildfire on social networking sites. These days, it seems that if you’re a celebrity and you haven’t been rumored to have died in a fall or car accident, then your star just isn’t that bright. Below are the 10 most infamous death hoaxes, ranging from teeny bopper Miley Cirus to veteran actor Abe Vigoda.

1. Paul McCartney – 1969
   A longstanding rumor is that Paul McCartney perished in a car accident in 1966 and was replaced with an equally-talented lookalike. The reports of his demise first surfaced in an article in a Drake University paper and reappeared in a University of Michigan paper after a Detroit radio station DJ listened to “Revolution 9″ backwards, claiming he heard “Turn me on, dead man.” The two UM students who wrote the satirical piece fabricated clues that were taken seriously by established publications. Rumors proliferated after a radio broadcast from New York soon after, and Life Magazine eventually tracked down McCartney and interviewed him. The cover of that issue read “Paul is still with us.”
2. Abe Vigoda – 1982 and 1987
   In 1982, People Magazine referred to the 61-year-old Hollywood legend as “the late Abe Vigoda” despite the fact that he was alive and well. Although he said that the error cost him jobs, he spoofed it by posing for a photograph in which he sat in a coffin while holding up the magazine. Five years later, a New Jersey anchorwoman made the same mistake, causing his supposed demise to become a running joke on late night television. As of 2010, Vigoda is still kickin’ it at the ripe age of 89.
3. Eminem – 2000
   There has been more than one Eminem death hoax, but the most notable occurred in December of 2000 when reports appeared that he had died in an early-morning car accident while drunk and high on drugs. But the rumor was quickly refuted on the rapper’s website, though it reappeared in the same form in September of 2008 and December of 2009.
4. Britney Spears – 2001
   A year after the first Eminem hoax, a Dallas radio station claimed that Britney Spears died in a car accident with her then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake, who was said to have been in a coma. Reports were seemingly legitimized when a fake story was circulated that looked like it had come from the BBC News website. Hundreds of her most devoted fans reacted by calling police and fire departments, but their worry was for naught – Spears’ publicist affirmed there was no truth to the rumor.
5. Johnny Knoxville – 2002
   Given the perilous stunts performed by the crew of “Jackass,” it wasn’t a huge surprise when internet rumors surfaced that he had fallen to his death while filming. The accident was supposedly caused by parachute failure after he jumped from a biplane – while eating a jar of baked beans. The report came from a fake obituary from a website that resembled the layout of MTV’s website.
6. Will Ferrell – 2006
   The tragic news of funnyman Will Ferrell’s fake death was written by a user on a free press release website. The anonymous rumormonger claimed that Ferrell had died in a paragliding accident after a gust of wind carried him and his instructor into a dense forest. The details of the story added to its realness, and even tricked some of the most skeptical rumor readers.
7. Tom Hanks – 2006
   A story generated by a user of a prank website stated that Hanks had plummeted to his death from a cliff while filming a movie in New Zealand. As it turned out, he was actually in California at the time working on “Charlie Wilson’s War.” The story of Tom Hanks’ fake death was so good that it was reused for other celebrities.
8. Tom Cruise – 2008
   Tom Cruise was another notable celeb who suffered the same fake fate as Hanks, falling from atop the Kauri Cliffs in the Land of the Kiwi. But the rumor was quickly killed by a Cruise spokesperson who said “This is completely not true. Tom is not in New Zealand nor has he been there recently. This is erroneous and unreliable Internet garbage.”
9. Miley Cyrus – 2008
   A hacker who gained access to Miley’s YouTube account gave her fans quite the scare, leaving this message: “Hey, guys, this is Mandy and I have some very sad news …We’re very hurt to tell everyone this, but Miley died this morning after being hit by a drunk driver. Miley told us if anything ever happened to her, then we should let her fans know before the public…R.I.P. honey, we will miss you so much.” She was said to have been killed by a drunk driver on the way to the set of “Hannah Montana.”
10. Jeff Goldblum – 2009
    During a string of celebrity deaths that included Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon, an internet rumor surfaced that Jeff Goldblum had also died. What’s more, it was claimed that he plunged to his death from the Kauri Cliffs in New Zealand – a story that apparently never gets old. Twitter was used in the spreading and quashing of the rumors. Even Kevin Spacey posted that Goldblum was in fact alive, and demanded that people “Stop these stupid rumors.”