Fake Death News: "Master Forger" Lets Elfriede Jelinek Die

The news was picked up by the X account "Rowohlt AT," which announced on Tuesday afternoon that Elfriede Jelinek had supposedly died at the age of 78.

Shortly thereafter, a pinned tweet at the top of the page drew attention to a fake.

Tommaso Debenedetti is an Italian writer and teacher known for spreading false reports.

Nobel Laureate Elfriede Jelinek: "Happened last year already. I'm still alive"

"Oh, again?" Jelinek responded to AFP with her usual calm. "It's the second time I've been dead," said the author. "Happened last year already. I'm still alive," she added. Rowohlt spokesperson Nora Gottschalk also stated upon APA inquiry and on the publisher's correct X account that it was a false report. On the fake account, it was stated at 1:40 PM: "BREAKING NEWS: The Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek has died." Numerous German and Austrian quality media then went online with the supposed death report and later apologized for the false report.

Already at 2:08 PM, the fake account revealed itself: "This account is a hoax created by Italian journalist Tommaso Debenedetti." Shortly thereafter, there was an even clearer post on the X page:

The name Tommaso Debenedetti has been repeatedly associated with fake reports in recent years, but whether he is behind this account is unclear. In 2020, a fake account under this name, @RoscicWien, announced the supposed death of opera star Plácido Domingo.

(Red./JELU, APA)

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