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Golden Girl Rue McClanahan's Death Goes Viral Five Years Later
Golden Girl Rue McClanahan's Death Goes Viral Five Years Later
Social media users are sharing the 'breaking news' of McClanahan's death -- which happened in 2010 -- by the thousands.
Rue McClanahan, beloved by millions of LGBT viewers for her role as sassy Blanche Devereaux on Golden Girls,died five years ago-- but don't tell the Internet that.
Yesterday the star's name began trending on Twitter and Facebook, with an outpouring of grief over her death, with fans sharing the "shocking" news and paying tribute. Only they forgot one thing: to check the date on the articles announcing her death.
\u201cThe world is a little less golden, will watch the fabulous Blanche Devereaux forever in reruns. RIP Rue McClanahan #RueMcClanahan\u201d— KAREN LEE BROWN (@KAREN LEE BROWN) 1434108762
McClanahan died June 3, 2010, after suffering a stroke at age 76. CBS News-- whose obituary has been the epicenter of the phenomenon -- speculates that the viral mourning may have started with fans commemorating the fifth anniversary of her death last week. That message, passing between social media users like a virtual game of Telephone, seems to have then lost some key information along the way.
And most curious of all: this isn't the first time this has happened. Last year, Facebook and Twitter users shared the "news" of McClanahan's passing with the same gusto.
Meanwhile, not everyone has gotten swept up in the moment, instead replying with 140 characters worth of snark.
\u201cCongratulations #socialmedia thanks to everyone posting #RueMcClanahan died, you now have #BettyWhite thinking #wtf!\u201d— Matthew Hurst (@Matthew Hurst) 1434106629
\u201cThe same Facebook friend has now shared the same 'Rue McClanahan is dead' article twice in 6 months. Rue McClanahan died in 2010.\u201d— Mike MacKenzie (@Mike MacKenzie) 1434107946
We didn't lose enough celebrities and talented people yesterday that you had to go and kill Rue McClanahan again too?
\u201cWe didn't lose enough celebrities and talented people yesterday that you had to go and kill Rue McClanahan again too?\u201d— (((Mark Campbell))) (@(((Mark Campbell)))) 1434108321
