Black American Poet Laureate and role model for millions, Maya Angelou, was on the verge of death, according to a TMZ story published on Oct. 3, 2009.
Angelou was supposedly hospitalized and unable to show up for an event in Los Angeles.
The report spread quickly through cyberspace, and Angelou remained the top trending topic on Twitter for hours as followers mourned and memorialized her.
That might have been considered an honor for the then 81-year-old Angelou, except that she was not near death, and nowhere near Los Angeles. She was at home in St. Louis.
TMZ updated their story to explain that Angelou was well, and was never scheduled to appear at the Los Angeles event. The hoax was blamed on an event organizer who allegedly told a TMZ cameramen that Angelou was a no-show because she had been hospitalized.
