WITH the help of social media, just about anything can go viral on the internet nowadays, including fake news.
Amy Schumer became the latest victim of a variation of the celebrity death hoax, leaving thousands of social media users wondering whether the Hollywood comic was alive and well.
Why is ‘Amy Schumer hospital’ trending?
Just days before the new year, Amy Schumer became the latest target of the online celebrity death hoax trend.
Users on X, formerly Twitter, shared and reposted a video of a woman attempting to complete a viral TikTok trend, the stair shuffle.
The video shows a woman standing with her right side facing the camera, shuffling up a flight of stairs.
While her face is partially obstructed, the blonde woman bears a slight resemblance to Schumer.
In the video, the woman shuffles up a few steps before accidentally slipping and hitting the back of her head against the stairs’ railing.
She then proceeds to roll down the stairs, seemingly injured from her fall.
The video then cuts out, leaving viewers wondering what happened next.
Many users claimed that the woman in the video was Amy Schumer, and news quickly spread that the stand-up comedian had been hospitalized as a result of the fall.
Social media users were quick to jump on the news, with most viewers voicing their concerns for Schumer.
However, some users also started to make fun of the video – and tweet – in question.
One user wrote: “Are the stairs okay?”
Another user tweeted: “Slipped down the 5 stairs and in critical condition?” alongside a crying laughing emoji.
One user wrote: “Literally the only time that Amy Schumer has ever been funny.”
Some users were quick to point out that the woman in the video was not Schumer.
One user wrote: “That’s 100% not her,” disputing the rumors.
Another user tweeted: “I know that’s not her, but it gives me a lot of satisfaction to think it is.”
The original tweet, showing a photo of Amy Schumer next to a video of a woman trying – and failing – to complete TikTok‘s stair shuffle challenge, has been viewed 43 million times.
The tweet also has nearly 40,000 likes, 4,300 favorites, 9,000 retweets, and 4,600 replies.
While not quite a celebrity death hoax, the tweet did perpetuate another variation of the trend, the celebrity injury hoax.
The account that originally tweeted the baseless rumor also tried out the injury hoax on other celebrities, including Noah Schnapp, Rihanna, and Sabrina Carpenter.
The account even managed to pull off a celebrity death hoax on one of December’s most famous faces of all, the one and only Santa Claus.
Where did the viral hoax originate?
On Wednesday, December 27, 2023, at 1:04 pm, X user @LyricVault tweeted a side-by-side photo of Amy Schumer next to the 10-second stair-shuffle video clip.
The account also tweeted a message alongside the photo and video, writing: “Amy Schumer hospitalized after attempting TikTok trend. Sources say she’s in critical condition.”
The @LyricVault X biography states that the account is “dedicated to satire,” and “nothing posted here represents actual facts or news.”
They also added that all tweets are “purely for laughs.”
The account tweeted about their newfound fame, reposting articles that disputed the Amy Schumer hospitalization rumors.
They also chose to poke fun at themselves, tweeting: “Oh they got my a**” along with a screenshot of Google‘s Top Stories, which included the fake news about Amy Schumer.
The account also seemed shocked to find out it was the reason Amy Schumer was a trending topic in the United States.
They tweeted: “Oh my god,” alongside a screenshot of X’s Trending Topics page.
@LyricVault has been an X user since October 2022, but despite its penchant for satirical news and viral content, the account has just 9,500 followers.
The account’s tweets follow a similar format to their Schumer rumor, showing a photo of a celebrity next to an outlandish video.
Just after they posted their Amy Schumer takedown, @LyricVault went after Schumer’s A-list besties, the Kardashians.
The account tweeted a photo of Kendall Jenner next to a video of a woman running away from a flock of birds, claiming that Jenner was “injured by a flock of pigeons,” as part of “a targeted attack.”
Multiple websites acted swiftly to shut down the rumors, with Newsweek calling Schumer’s reported hospitalization story “a hoax,” and verifying that the comedian was unharmed.
Neither Schumer nor anyone from her team responded to the online hoax as of December 29, 2023.
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Who is Amy Schumer?
Amy Schumer is an American comedian, actress, writer, and filmmaker.
Schumer was born on June 1, 1981, in New York City.
Her youngest sister, Kim Caramele, is a comedy writer and producer, while her half-brother, Jason Stein, is a musician.
Her second cousin is US Senator and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
In high school, Schumer was voted Class Clown and Teacher’s Worst Nightmare ahead of her graduation in 1999.
In 2003, she graduated with a theater degree from Towson University, located in Baltimore, Maryland.
Schumer’s first foray into stand-up comedy was a performance at Gotham Comedy Club on June 1, 2004.
She appeared on the fifth season of Last Comic Standing, an NBC reality TV show, eventually placing fourth.
From there, Schumer started booking more television roles and appearances, including stints on Reality Bites Back, 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Girls.
She also continued touring, performing stand-up across the US and Europe.
Schumer’s sketch comedy series, Inside Amy Schumer, aired on Comedy Central from April 30, 2013, to June 16, 2016, helping make her a household name in the comedy world.
In 2015, Schumer appeared in the Judd Apatow-produced romantic comedy film, Trainwreck, opposite Bill Hader.
That same year, she was named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.
In 2016, Schumer was accused of stealing jokes from several comedians. Schumer denied the allegations, while some comedians, including Marc Maron and Dave Rubin, came to her defense.
She went on to star in the 2017 film Snatched opposite Goldie Hawn, and I Feel Pretty in 2018.
On February 13, 2018, Schumer married chef and farmer Chris Fischer in Malibu, California.
The couple welcomed their first child, a son, on May 5, 2019.
Schumer changed her son’s name, originally Gene Attell Fischer, to Gene David Fischer, in honor of one of her favorite comedians and comedy influences, Dave Attell.
In 2023, she voiced Velvet in the animated movie Trolls Band Together.
She is set to star in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, an upcoming comedy film directed, written, and produced by Jerry Seinfeld.