Wayne Knight, who played “Newman” on “Seinfeld, hasn’t died, but a death hoax that’s gone viral is saying otherwise.
Knight went on Twitter to dispel the false rumors.
“Does someone have to DIE to trend? Geez! Thanks for all the love everybody. I didn’t know you cared. Glad to be breathing!” he tweeted.
He added: “Some of you will be glad to hear this, others strangely disappointed, but….I am alive and well!”
Before he issued the statements, throngs of people on Twitter and Facebook were proclaiming his death, tweeting “RIP Wayne Knight” or “RIP Newman.”
The death hoax was started on a website designed to look like TMZ called “TMZ Today.”
Actor Wayne Knight, better known to most for playing one of the most indelible roles on NBC’s ‘Seinfeld’ as the charater ‘Newman’ is dead and two other passengers are critically injured after their vehicle slammed into a disabled semi-tractor-trailer late Saturday night along Route 446 near the Pennsylvania-New York state border in Eldred Township,” it reads.
The article even includes fake tweets at the bottom. “Kane-based state police have identified the deceased as the lovable ‘Newman.’ McKean County Coroner Jeff Levin said Knight died of blunt force trauma at the scene. Also injured in the crash were two of Knight’s passengers, Christopher Davidson, 33, and an unidentified male, both of New York state. Police say the unidentified male was ejected from the back seat of the sedan,” it continues.
The website only has three articles on it--all celebrity death hoaxes, including ones about Betty White dying and Austin “Chumlee” Russell dying.
Knight, 58, has been acting since 1973, appearing in movies including “Jurassic Park” and doing voice work for “Toy Story 2.” He also appeared as Officer Don in “3rd Rock From the Sun.” However, he’s best known as Newman--Jerry’s nemesis--in “Seinfeld.”
Friends Read Free