A number of Twitter users thought Robbie Williams, the English singer-songwriter formerly with Take That, had died. Some also thought that Robin Van Persie, the Dutch footballer, also died.
However, it was likely due to confusion after Robin Williams’ death on Monday. Williams, a longtime actor and comedian, reportedly committed suicide at his home in Northern California. A toxicology report and forensics report will both be done in the coming days.
But Twitter users confused Robbie Williams, 40, with the actor.
“To a great actor and an amazing person who died today * R.I.P robbie williams,” one person said on the social media website.
Added another, “RIP Robbie Williams. Your rock will be missed.”
“Just came to know about Robbie Williams’ death. If you have a problem or if you are sad, please talk to someone. Don’t end your own life,” added another.
“Rest in Peace @robbiewilliams you beautiful soul,” another said.
Some also wrote that Robin Van Persie, the Dutch soccer player, also died. He’s also still alive.
RIP Robbie Williams. Your rock will be missed :( pic.twitter.com/1iTzkytbGR
— jim perdue (@jimm_perdue) August 12, 2014
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Robin Williams, the Academy Award winner and comic supernova whose explosions of pop culture riffs and impressions dazzled audiences for decades and made him a gleamy-eyed laureate for the Information Age, died Monday in an apparent suicide. He was 63.
Williams was pronounced dead at his San Francisco Bay Area home Monday, according to the sheriff’s office in Marin County, north of San Francisco. The sheriff’s office said the preliminary investigation shows the cause of death to be a suicide due to asphyxia.
The Marin County coroner’s office said Williams was last been seen alive at home at about 10 p.m. Sunday. An emergency call from his house in Tiburon was placed to the Sheriff’s Department shortly before noon Monday.
“This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken,” said Williams’ wife, Susan Schneider. “On behalf ofRobin’s family, we are asking for privacy during our time of profound grief. As he is remembered, it is our hope the focus will not be on Robin’s death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.”
Williams had been battling severe depression recently, said Mara Buxbaum, his press representative. Just last month, he announced he was returning to a 12-step treatment program he said he needed after 18 months of nonstop work. He had sought treatment in 2006 after a relapse following 20 years of sobriety.
From his breakthrough in the late 1970s as the alien in the hit TV show “Mork and Mindy,” through his standup act and such films as “Good Morning, Vietnam,” the short, barrel-chested Williams ranted and shouted as if just sprung from solitary confinement. Loud, fast and manic, he parodied everyone from John Wayne to Keith Richards, impersonating a Russian immigrant as easily as a pack of Nazi attack dogs.
He was a riot in drag in “Mrs. Doubtfire,” or as a cartoon genie in “Aladdin.” He won his Academy Award in a rare but equally intense dramatic role, as an empathetic therapist in the 1997 film “Good Will Hunting.”