According to a number of social media accounts out there, Sylvester Stallone is dead.
The veteran actor has passed away from prostate cancer, one Twitter user has alleged, writing online that Stallone kept his illness a “secret” for as long as possible…
… but, in the end, was unable to “beat” the terrible disease.
Along with this claim, the same Twitter user included photos of Stallone seemingly going bald, presumably from chemotherapy.
Here’s the thing, however:
Stallone has come out and shot down this allegation, responding on his own Twitter page that he is, in fact, alive.
Sharing the initial report, along with the aforementioned pictures, Stallone wrote the following as a message he REALLY hopes can make its way around the Internet quickly:
Please ignore this stupidity… Alive and well and happy and healthy… Still punching!
We’re pretty sure the Creed sequel is filming at the moment, which may explain why Stallone is missing most of his hair in those disturbing snapshots.
Even if they are not from the star reprising his iconic role of Rocky Balboa, they may be taken from a different role Stallone is shooting for the big screen.
Or perhaps Stallone’s hair really is falling out.
The important point to remember here is that Sylvester Stallone is alive.
In case you don’t believe Sly himself, the actor’s younger brother, Frank Stallone, also took to social media to slam this hurtful gossip.
He didn’t really see the humor in the death hoax.
“Rumors that my brother is dead are false,” wrote Frank, adding:
“What kind of sick demented cruel mind thinks of things like this to post? People like this are mentally deranged and don’t deserve a place in society.”
We agree.
Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time a rumor about Stallone’s demise has surfaced online.
In September of 2016, talk of Stallone having been found dead at his Los Angeles home circulated all over Facebook.
We’re just happy neither of these claims proved to be accurate.
For one thing, we don’t wish death of anyone.
For another, we’re psyched for Creed 2.
And for another, if Stallone can’t throw on some stars-and-strips shorts and defeat a steroid-using Russian boxer who killed his best friend… there’s no hope at all to solve this latest version of the Cold War.