Dr. Phil Dies? Nope, ‘RIP’ Rumors Spread After James Avery’s Death

A number of people were tweeting “RIP Dr. Phil” after “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” star James Avery died on Wednesday.
Dr. Phil Dies? Nope, ‘RIP’ Rumors Spread After James Avery’s Death
TV personality Dr. Phil McGraw attends a ceremony honoring David Foster with the 2,499th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 31, 2013 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Jack Phillips
1/1/2014
Updated:
7/18/2015

A number of people were tweeting “RIP Dr. Phil” after “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” star James Avery died on Wednesday.

They apparently were mixing up Dr. Phil McGraw, a popular daytime talk show host, with Avery’s “Fresh Prince” character Uncle Phil, or Philip Banks.

Some also tweeted photos of rapper Rick Ross, saying “RIP,” because he bears a likeness to Avery.

“R.i.p. Dr. phil from fresh prince,” said one. 

Added another: “R.I.P James Avery aka Dr. Phil.”  Another wrote: “R.I.P Dr. Phil.” 

And there were some tweets with a photo of Dr. Phil saying “RIP James Avery” or something similar. 

Some were quick to point out the difference between the two.

“Leave it to twitter i get on here see R I P Uncle Phil wit a pic of Dr Phil,” one user commented.

Reports on Wednesday say that Avery died in Los Angeles after he underwent open-heart surgery.

“Fresh Prince” co-star Alfonso Ribeiro confirmed Avery’s death on Wednesday.

“The world has lost a truly special man. I am very saddened to say that James Avery has passed. Even though he played my father on TV, he was a wonderful father figure to me in life. He will be deeply missed,” he wrote on Facebook.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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