Comic blasts internet rumour-mongers

Bill Cosby has hit back at internet users who spread rumours of his death, after the story again buzzed around Twitter yesterday.

The 73-year-old initially laughed off the claim, which surfaces on the internet regularly, but later spoke of how was distressing it was for his family and friends.

At first, he responded to the death rumours with a jokey plug for his iPhone product, tweeting: ‘Again, I'm rebuttaling rumors about my demise . But, I'm confirming I have an app.’

But three hours later he posted an update to berate those who were propagating the story.

‘Emotional friends have called about this misinformation,’ he said. ‘To the people behind the foolishness, I'm not sure you see how upsetting this is.’

Cosby was previously declared dead via the Internet in February, when he issued a statement saying: ‘As you well know, a dead person cannot rebuttal. Therefore, I am rebuttaling to tell you that when I heard the news I immediately began rebuttaling and went into denial.

‘My wife has just informed me that there is no such word as rebuttaling, she says the word is rebutting. But I don't care, because I'm alive!’

Published: 3 Aug 2010