Gotye gotcha: Singer isn't dead

amysmatthew | 5:43 PM on July 01, 2012

Relax, Gotye fans. Your guy is alive and well. He’s merely the latest subject of an online death hoax. (Dear CNN: You might want to put a little more effort into vetting the “news” posts on your iReport site. Sincerely, Accuracy.)

The “Somebody That I Used to Know” singer – and his management, for good measure – personally disputed the report.

We're happy to report Wally is alive and well. Tell your friends 🙂

— GotyeHQ (@GotyeHQ) July 1, 2012

(Wally is Gotye’s real name.)

It took about half a second for the inevitable joke to appear:

Gotye is dead. Now he's just somebody that we used to know

— Aaron (@aieos) July 1, 2012

And only a bit longer for the requisite “yeah, but Justin Bieber sucks!” tweet:

Gotye is dead? Why don't Twitter kill Justin Bieber first?

— epal misai (@iAppleMustache) July 1, 2012

At least the hoax was a change from the usual snowboarding death story we’ve come to know and adore. It’s all getting to be old hat for Twitter veterans.

If you believe Gotye is dead. You must be new here. (here in twitter everyone dies)

— David (@DavidKrap) July 1, 2012

But look here! Perhaps the person who posted the phony iReport story got inspiration from a high source?

Actually, no. First, Rob Delaney’s a comedian (he also posts fake tweets that supposedly come from Mitt Romney’s account). Second, a scan of the Obama 2012 feed revealed no such tweet. To paraphrase the still-breathing Gotye, surely the president’s people wouldn’t have to stoop so low. On this topic, anyway.

As one tweeter knows, this episode merely confirms Gotye’s status as a major celeb.