The artificial intelligence rumors of Steve Harvey’s death appear to be greatly exaggerated.
In a case of “when AI goes wrong,” a story claiming the comedy veteran had died late on Tuesday led to many social media posters mourning Harvey’s death. The problem: the story is bogus.
An article titled “Steve Harvey Passed Away Today: Remembering The Legacy Of A Comedy Legend” was posted to “Trend Cast News” and picked up by Newsbreak, a popular media roundup site that has been caught sharing “AI fiction” in the past. The fake news — which included a future publishing date of Dec. 19, 2024 — was still live on Newsbreak’s site on Wednesday morning.
Reps for Harvey did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. The comedian does not appear to be in the morgue, though, considering he’s posted a number of times on Facebook and X on Wednesday morning.
Still, the “news” of Harvey’s death led to Harvey being the second-most popular Google search on Wednesday morning. It also led to reactions from many on social media.
Others went a step further, suggesting Harvey should file a lawsuit against the website behind the bunk story.
“I don’t care for this dude but I hope he catches wind of this article and sue whoever wrote this article,” one commenter on Newsbreak said. “You basically wished death on that man out here lying on that man’s soul like that. Ain’t that a [bitch].”
Oddly, this isn’t the first time the 67-year-old Harvey has been the subject of fake death rumors. In October, Snopes debunked a false rumor that Harvey had died in a car crash — a rumor that had circulated multiple times in recent years.
The “Family Feud” host has had fun with the stories of his death in the past, like when he posted this picture on X in 2023:
