Fans were initially distressed by the news of his purported death, expressing their grief online. Upon discovering the widespread hoax, Harvey reacted with humor, creating a meme about it and sharing it on Twitter.
In the Twitter post, the comedian featured himself sitting in a chair, perusing his phone with an expression of mock dismay. The caption read: “Me seeing that Rip Harvey is trending.”
Me seeing that Rip Harvey is trending pic.twitter.com/n6UcHpP9JN
— Steve Harvey (@IAmSteveHarvey) July 18, 2023
India Today clarifies that the death hoax surrounding Steve Harvey was the result of a misunderstanding rather than deliberately creating fake news. The trend RIP Harvey actually referred to the unfortunate passing of Harvey Doyle, a regular caller on Kentucky radio station KSR.
On July 18, the news of Harvey Doyle’s death was announced. The station’s host, Matt Jones, expressed his condolences, stating that the news was distressing.
However, many radio listeners, seeing the RIP Harvey messages, misconstrued the condolences as referring to Steve Harvey, given the commonality in their names, leading to the inadvertent rumor of the comedian’s death.