Mark McGrath is not dead, despite a harsh online hoax claiming he was shot and killed this week. The Sugar Ray frontman assures us he is alive and well.
"Final word on the death hoax thing," the singer Tweeted Thursday after a rumor spread that he'd been killed in dramatic fashion on the set of his TV series.
The 46-year-old Don't Forget the Lyrics host told fans that "I knew nothing about it and found out the same time you did … sorry about any confusion."
A press release claiming the former Sugar Ray frontman died was sent to various media outlets from an email address linked to a L.A.-based PR firm.
The faux, detailed release claimed that McGrath had been fatally shot by a masked gunman on the Hollywood set of the Adult Swim show Hot Package.
"In honor of Mr. McGrath's legacy, his team is asking in lieu of flowers, fans post a Sugar Ray selfie, holding a packet of sugar over their heart," it read.
It also said McGrath died in the arms of show host Derrick Beckles.
But the death turned out to be a hoax, like so many others before it, and like other celebrity death hoax victims, McGrath had a sense of humor about it.
He retweeted a fan who wrote: "Thats cool you arent dead and stuff, but I had you in my Celebrity death pool and now I am out 8 bux, bastard!"
We hope he's kidding. Whoever had Mark McGrath ranked in their celebrity death odds 2015 table put a lot of thought into this morbid topic. Just saying.
Celebrity Death Hoaxes: Stars the Internet Fake-Killed
1.
Lil Wayne
View Photo
Lil Wayne has been the subject of more than one death hoax over the years ... and more than one actual near-death experience. So it's believalble.
2.
Sharkeisha
View Video
Sharkeisha was killed off by an Internet hoax, not long after she nearly killed a classmate with this insane sucker punch.
3.
Wayne Knight
View Photo
Wayne Knight is alive and well.
4.
Chumlee
View Photo
Pawn Stars' Chumlee is not dead, despite a hoax indicating as much.
Advertisement
A message from our sponsor.
5.
Celine Dion
View Photo
Celine Dion was fake-killed on Facebook pretty recently.
6.
Chloe Moretz
View Photo
Chloe Moretz was far from pleased about the hoax that killed her online.
7.
Bindi Irwin
View Photo
Bindi Irwin is alive, well and all grown up!
8.
Jon Bon Jovi
View Photo
Jon Bon Jovi is still healthy and rocking out hard ... thank goodness!
Advertisement
A message from our sponsor.
9.
Cher
View Photo
Cher may be getting up there in years, but she's in good health.
10.
Vanilla Ice
View Photo
Vanilla Ice is the perfect candidate for such a hoax, but he's actually in a pretty good place lately.
11.
Eddie Murphy
View Photo
Stop trying to kill Eddie Murphy online, people.
12.
Kanye West
View Photo
Rumors of Kanye West's demise are about as real as Kim Kardashian's face (not very).
Advertisement
A message from our sponsor.
13.
Tiger Woods
View Photo
Tiger Woods killed his career for a time in 2009, but rest assured, he is physically alive.
14.
Spencer Pratt
View Photo
Some of you may be strangely let down by the fact that Spencer Pratt death rumors were fake.
15.
Sinbad
View Photo
Sinbad was done in by his own Wikipedia page.
16.
Jeff Goldblum
The Jeff Goldblum death hoax was one of the most notorious.
Advertisement
A message from our sponsor.
17.
Justin Bieber
View Photo
In March 2012, "RIP Justin Bieber" really pissed off the legions of Beliebers who enjoy being overly aggressive and emotional about their douchebag hero in 140 characters or less.
18.
Paris Hilton
View Photo
Paris Hilton fell victim to a fictional car crash in September 2012 ... and in 2007, was allegedly shanked to death in jail.
19.
Taylor Lautner
View Photo
The rumor mill got creative for the death of Taylor Lauther in 2010. When his death started trending on Twitter, the story was that Lautner had been "drugged by strippers."
20.
Eminem
View Photo
Reports of Eminem's death have been greatly exaggerated.
Advertisement
A message from our sponsor.
21.
Pele
View Photo
The Pele death hoax even duped CNN.
22.
Miley Cyrus
View Photo
Miley Cyrus is not dead. The Internet tried to do her in again in 2014, but to no avail.
23.
Betty White
View Photo
At 92 years old, Betty White was at the center of an annoying death hoax in late summer 2014.
24.
Macaulay Culkin
View Photo
Macaulay Culkin is alive and well. Despite reports that he is dead ... here he is!
Advertisement
A message from our sponsor.
25.
Mark McGrath
View Photo
Mark McGrath is not dead! The Internet tried to kill him in February 2015, but he shot down the hoax.
The End.
Up Next: "Celebrity Death Hoaxes: Stars the Internet Fake-Killed."
We'll be redirecting you shortly...
Mark also retweeted another fan's quip: "you can drink enough whiskey to kill a large horse, there's nothing capable of being taking you down!!! #longlivemcgrath"
An Adult Swim spokesperson denied involvement in the hoax.
"This press release did not come from Adult Swim and is not part of any network PR or marketing campaign for the show Hot Package," the statement read.
The show, coincidentally (or not), premiers tomorrow.
The happy and healthy McGrath is married to wife Carin Kingsland, whom he wed in 2012, and recently welcomed twins Lydon Edward and Hartley Grace.