Britneys Spears Death Hoax Spreads After Sony Music Twitter Account Hack

On December 26, pop music fans got the shock of their lives after Sony Music, through their official Twitter account, announced that pop star Britney Spears died in a car accident. The tweet reportedly said: “Britney Spears is dead by accident! We will tell you more soon #RIPBritney.” The news however was quickly debunked as a hoax, after Britney Spears’ manager told media that Sony’s social media accounts were hacked.

Sony Music Social Media Accounts Hacked

According to a CNN report, Adam Leber who represents Spears, said that “their (Sony) account has been hacked.” He added that “I haven’t spoken to anyone… as of yet but I am certain their account was hacked. Britney is fine and well. There have been a few Internet clowns over the years who have made similar claims about her death, but never from the official Sony Music Twitter account.”

Aside from Sony’s account, Bob Dylan’s account which is also managed by Sony Music, was also hacked. Dylan reportedly tweeted “Rest in peace @britneyspears” accompanied by a crying emoji and Sony Music’s original tweet. This led most people to believe that the news was true.

The tweets have since been deleted by Sony, and officials have issued apologies to the singer and her fans.

Image from CNET: https://www.cnet.com/news/britney-spears-isnt-really-dead-twitter-hack/

After the tweets were deleted, hacking group OurMine claimed responsibility for the hack, which it did in order to promote the group’s online security business. The group is reportedly responsible for other hacks such as the social media accounts of the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter.

Britney Spears Tweets Back

In a “tongue-in-cheek” response to the death hoax, the singer herself took to Twitter to tell her fans and the rest of the world that she is very much alive. Her tweet was captioned “Don’t underestimate the power of Charlie’s angels (emoji),” accompanied with four selfies.