Fake Stories of Comedians Being Arrested Are the New Celebrity Death Hoax

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Bert Kreischer and Kevin Hart are free men — regardless of what the internet (and Katt Williams) have to say about it.

Ever since telecommunications first globalized the spread of information, celebrity news has been one of the fastest-spreading categories of correspondence, a fact known well to the trolls of the world who prefer shocking (and fake) celebrity obituaries to truthful gossip. Celebrity death hoaxes have been around since at least as early as the 1940s, when stars like Charlie Chaplin and Frank Sinatra met untimely ends, according to some tragically misinformed newspapers. In the world of comedy, figures like Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Jimmy Fallon and Joe Rogan have all faced fake death reports that, nowadays, use social media for disinformation the same way everyone else does. 

However, just in the last few days, celebrity death hoaxes seem to be going out of style as comedian arrest hoaxes skyrocket. Both Kreischer and Hart have been hit with fake reports about their supposed felonious behavior this week. Though social media platforms exploded in response to the supposed legal troubles, any discerning comedy fan knew the arrest reports to be fake — Kreischer’s whole shtick is getting away with outrageous crimes.

The Hart hoax stems from a murder and arrest that had absolutely nothing to do with the massively successful movie and stand-up star. Earlier this week, a different man who is also named Kevin Hart was arrested in Central Valley, California and charged with the murder of 65-year-old Jackie Robinson in nearby Seaside. In the unfortunate case that it needs to be clarified, no, the victim was not a MLB Hall-of-Famer.

Despite the dark story having nothing to do with the famous Kevin Hart, “#KevinHartArrested” briefly trended on Twitter, inspiring outrage and confusion among his fanbase. The trend also drew bizarre claims from attention-hunters, who posted videos pretending that other celebrities like Terrence Howard had spoken out about Hart’s purported pending murder charge.

Kreischer’s arrest claims came from a joke made by his 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast co-host Tom Segura, who started a rare solo episode of the pair’s show by comically explaining his partner’s absence. Segura said that Kreischer was “doing a little bit of time” in jail, adding, “Hopefully, his legal matters resolve themselves.” Segura further said of his friend and co-host, “I know that he has the best attorneys you can hire. He’s got a lot of health troubles, so they’re taking care of him in the medical ward of the jail.”

Almost immediately, TikTokers who missed the joke took the clip from 2 Bears, 1 Cave and ran rampant with sensationalized reactions, never once asking themselves the important question, “How exactly is Bert Kreischer going to tear his shirt off when most prison uniforms are jumpsuits?”