On Oct. 28, 2023, news broke that Emmy-Award nominated actor had been found dead in his Los Angeles home at the age of 54. Best known for playing the character Chandler Bing on the popular TV sitcom “Friends,” tributes to Perry poured in from fans and fellow celebrities, including his “Friends” co-stars, Grammy-Award winning singer Adele, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
False celebrity gossip videos about Perry’s death also spread on social media accounts on multiple platforms. We found videos that had spread false information had millions of views across platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
In this article, we break down the two main types of false videos that had spread in the aftermath of Perry’s death, as well as state what we know about Perry’s death and various reactions to his passing at the time of this writing.
One main type of false celebrity gossip video claimed to show celebrity reactions to his passing.
One such video posted by YouTube celebrity gossip channel Drama Bay was titled, “5 MINUTES AGO: Jennifer Aniston CAUGHT BREAKING DOWN Over Mathew Perry Passing Away.” The video’s thumbnail claimed Aniston — who was one of Perry's co-stars on "Friends" — had said, “It is not acceptable,” presumably about Perry’s death. The video had over 109,000 views on YouTube, but took off on TikTok. Three posts that contained parts of the YouTube video garnered over 113,000 views, 1.5 million views, and 1.1 million views...
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