Michael J. Fox on Wednesday watched news coverage about his death unfold in front of his own eyes. That left him wondering: “How do you react when you turn on the TV and CNN is reporting your death?”
The beloved “Back to the Future” and “Family Ties” star answered his own query via Threads, issuing a call-out post wrapped in some snark and plenty of grace. CNN on Wednesday stirred concerns about the 64-year-old Emmy winner’s health after it erroneously published an article a video titled “Remembering the life of actor Michael J. Fox,” according a screenshot published by TMZ. Fox, who has been living with Parkinson’s for more than 30 years, has been the subject of death hoaxes over the years.
CNN swiftly deleted its worrying posts and confirmed to multiple outlets that “the package was published in error.”
“We have removed it from our platforms and send our apologies to Michael J. Fox and his family,” the network said in a statement.
Fox debunked the reports and offered a number of apt reactions to learning about one’s own death.
“Do you … A) switch to MSNBC, or whatever they are calling themselves these days, (B) Pour scalding hot water on your lap, if it hurts you’re fine,” he wrote on Threads, “(C) Call your wife, hopefully she’s concerned but reassuring, (D) Relax, they do this once every year. (E) Ask yourself wtf?”
“I thought the world was ending, but apparently it’s just me and I’m OK,” he continued. “Love, Mike.”
Fox went public with his Parkinson’s disease in 1998, sharing that he had been diagnosed seven years earlier. Since then, the actor has become a staunch activist for Parkinson’s research, launching his eponymous foundation in 2000. In recent years, the “Good Wife” and “Shrinking” actor has contemplated on his mortality, telling “CBS News Sunday Morning” in 2023 that he doesn’t see himself making it to 80. Later that year he also told Town & Country“one day I’ll run out of gas” and that he would “allow myself that.”
“If I were to pass away tomorrow, it would be premature,” he said at the time, “but it wouldn’t be unheard of. And so, no, I don’t fear that.”
Clearly, death hasn’t arrived yet nor has it robbed Fox of his ability to joke about it. On Threads, he wasn’t the only comedian to poke fun at the false report.
Kathy Griffin chimed in, replying to Fox: “You’re a helluva ghost.”
Times staff writer Emily St. Martin contributed to this report.
The post Michael J. Fox, very much alive, shades CNN for publishing erroneous video about his death appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
