Matt Damon Dead Rumors Cite TMZ as Source

A rumor that popular actor Matt Damon, star of the "Bourne" trilogy, was reportedly found dead took over the internet Wednesday. Some of the Matt Damon is dead rumors state that TMZ.com was reporting the death. Although that would be one way to give the rumor credence, citing the famous celebrity gossip website as a source, it fortunately was not true. Neither the rumor that Matt Damon was found dead or the attribution of reporting agency were true.

Academy Award-winning actor Matt Damon ("Good Will Hunting") is not dead, but, rather, is in Venice, Italy, attending the Venice Film Festival. In fact, he told reporters Monday, according to American Superstar Mag, that he had enjoyed putting on the 30 pounds to play the character Mark Whitacre in his upcoming movie, a dark comedy entitled "The Informant." In "The Informant," Whitacre is an agriculture company's vice president who becomes an FBI informant in a federal investigation on price fixing.

But by Wednesday, Matt Damon was dead. According to one incarnation of the rumor found on Bollywood 91, Matt Damon had written on his blog that he was going into the desert to search for gold and adventure. The rumor is fairly detailed in its construction, noting that Damon realizes that what he is doing is dangerous. But the hook for the average viewer is the TMZ.com attribution, which the rumor claims is the source of the death news. Stating that an Imperial County Sheriff's Department deputy found the actor dead after the Sheriff's Office had been alerted by a friend of Matt Damon's that he was in trouble, out of water, and need help.

Regardless of the details of Matt Damon being found dead in Imperial County, which is on the Mexican border, he was not. He was alive and well the entire time in Italy.

But it does indicate how far a hoax can go and how far a creative and determined hoaxer can take their creation. Pushing to the top of search terms lists like Google Trends and being transmitted and forwarded around the world shows the interest in these types of stories, but to what end are they created? Is it simply to see a creation reach such a state of popularity? Or has a new angle entered the arena?

Two months ago, on the same day that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died, June 25, a Twitter notification went out that actor Jeff Goldblum had been found dead after a fall while on location at a movie site in New Zealand. The hoax grew to such strength that Australia's "Today Show" announced Jeff Goldblum's death as a news story. But Jeff Goldblum was in Los Angeles and would later appear in a self-mocking segment on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," complete with self-delivered eulogy for the dead Jeff Goldblum.

Is getting your (famous actor or celebrity name inserted here) is dead story on the news the new pinnacle of achievement for the hoax mechanic? Given that celebrities are always dying anyway, one wonders what a person might enjoy about creating such a hoax. Could it be that the hoax builder watches their creation move up the trending charts like a recording artist watches a single climb the music charts? Could getting that story on the news be like winning a Grammy?

It would explain a lot. Even hoaxers enjoy affirmation.

But it does not explain why they chose Matt Damon -- other than his fame -- to be the dead guy...

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Sources:

Bollywood91.com
AmericanSupestarMag.com