Social media star Joe Bartolozzi has been the victim of a viral hoax after rumours of his alleged death began to circulate online.
Fans became concerned when the words “Joe Bartolozzi dead” trended online, but who is the influencer and why was he a victim of the death hoax?
Who is Joe Bartolozzi?
21-year-old Bartolozzi is an American YouTuber, TikToker and streamer who has grown a social media following thanks to his amusing commentary and content.
He boasts a staggering 22.5 million followers on TikTok where his clips have racked up 1.8 billion likes.
Since creating a YouTube channel in 2020, Bartolozzi has gained 1.46 million subscribers, while his other social media platforms also have millions of followers and lots of engagement.
So, when fake rumours suggested that Bartolozzi had died, it didn’t take long for the phrase “Joe Bartolozzi dead” to start trending as people tried to get to the bottom of it.
But, his fans were quickly reassured when Bartolozzi continued to post on his social media channels.
In one TikTok which has been viewed over 11 million times, Bartolozzi addressed the death hoax saying that it had become very annoying for him.
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@joe.bartolozzi@river its been a week and im over it
He yelled: “I didn’t die because it would be impossible for me to talk about how I died. It has been one week – one week, seven days – it’s already really f***ing annoying.”
In the comments, fans poked fun at the rumours, joking that his video was produced by artificial intelligence.
One fan joked: “This Ai stuff is getting out of hand let him rest.”
“AI is getting too far…” another said.
Someone else mocked: “He made backup videos so we won't be sad that he is not here. Fly high joe.”
Bartolozzi has posted regularly since the rumours began so it’s safe to say he is alive and well.
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