Access Blogs
Anatomy Of A Rumor: Jay-Z's Plane Crash
by Eric Anderson, AccessHollywood.com Senior Editor
Remember in high school when you finally confided your secret crush to a friend and by the end of the day, the student body had the two of you as long time lovers ready to walk down the aisle?
Fun, right?
Well sadly, Hollywood is much like high school in that regard -- it's amazing how fast rumors and false reports can spread and Friday's "report" that Jay-Z was killed in a plane crash is a prime example.
Hearing the news of anyone's demise is heart wrenching, but as a huge hip hop fan who appreciates the contributions Shawn Carter has brought to the industry, it was extremely saddening.
Of course, we all know now that Jay-Z is alive and well. So with that, it's time to take a closer look at the anatomy of a rumor…
10:55 a.m. - (West Coast time) - TMZ.com posts a story saying that a small plane carrying three passengers went down in the Smoky Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina and according to rumors that were "swirling," one of the passengers was the rap impresario himself.
Quickly, the Access Hollywood news room responds and calls are made to Jay-Z's publicists, record label, manager and even personnel at his NYC club 40/40 personnel trying to verify if it is true.
11:03 a.m. - Access finally reaches one of his reps, who confirms that Jay-Z was, in fact, on a plane on his way to Las Vegas. However, the rep neither confirms nor denies reports of the crash, although does say that it was unlikely to be true since Jay-Z had no reason to be near Asheville.
11:09 a.m. - Access Hollywood contacts the Asheville Citizen Times, who confirms three of the four passengers are dead, but have no information on sex, race or age.
11:12 a.m. - Just 17 minutes after the first report broke, Access Hollywood's Billy Bush gets a hold of a Jay-Z contact who confirms it is NOT Jay-Z and that he is currently on a flight from New York to Las Vegas. Not him.
Whew.
Also around this same time, TMZ.com adjusts their story saying the story is "not true."
But for 17 minutes, and in the middle of trying to put together the day's show, the entire Access news room is in a frenzy trying to verify a story that was erroneously reported as “rumor” on other Web sites.
(Jay-Z alive and well at Saturday night's Mayweather - De la Hoya fight in Vegas, AP photo)
I understand the race to be first in this entertainment news game we play on a daily basis. But this is just further proof, it's not just about being first - it's about being right.
Here's the thing… can you imagine Jay's Blackberry when he got off the plane? He probably had dozens of e-mails asking if he was alive. Not exactly the best way to start a Vegas weekend. Not to mention the calls being made to his family and friends, and to gal pal Beyonce, asking if he was alive? Truly scary.
Sadly, Jay-Z is not the first celebrity to be killed off in the "press" without anyone bothering to clue the star in that they are now dead.
Winona Ryder (overdose), Sinbad (heart attack), Jon Heder (car crash) and Will Ferrell (hang gliding accident) are just a few other stars who have been reported as dead over the past couple of years; all the time while they are alive and well.
You can imagine each of these stars' surprise when they heard the news they were dead. Certainly gives new meaning on being the last to know.
stop telling ppls are dead before making sure they are, u guys said that Shawn Carter was reported as a survival from plane crash but that not even a plane that flied on the same meridian so stop making death wishes on the kool ones stupides. From Brook.Denver,co...............
As a mother who lost a son, trust me, you do not want to hear a rumor or untruth about a death.
The same thing happened when someone reported a false report about Christopher Williams in an email, so I contacted the best source for black news, period and that's Lee Bailey over at www.Eurweb.com. As a man in radio, and a website I use to write a weekly column for called The Literary Dish, I know he has established a strong presence in the AA community and Hollywood celebs have a rapport with him. He was very responsible and let Disilgold.com know it was a rumor. We simply won't post rumors from sites, but we will discredit them in a heartbeat as a resource with tons of direct contacts! We are also connected to nearly all African American literary artists whose pride and joy is credability when they talk among forums. We get the facts straight from direct sources and why TMZ.com may wish to site www.Disilgold.com as a resource for credible news.TMZ.com is a voted favorite in the AA community, but we would like to see variety on African American issues that show positive things black people are doing sometimes.