As Kannada actor-turned-politician Divya Spandana’s death rumours started doing rounds on social media and a few TV channels reported the ‘false’ news on Wednesday morning, The News Minute confirmed from Divya herself and found the baseless news to be completely untrue. “I am shocked at the irresponsible reporting. What am I to say? ‘I’m alive’,” Divya told TNM.
Tamil Nadu Congress also clarified that the 40-year-old is “absolutely fine” on X. The political party confirmed that the former Lok Sabha member from Mandya, Karnataka, is ‘alive and well.’ In addition, they informed that she is currently on a tour in Geneva.
Tamil Nadu Congress announced in a tweet, “Our beloved former Social Media Chairperson Divya Spandana is ABSOLUTELY FINE. Rumors and some TV news outlets are 100% WRONG.”
https://twitter.com/K_T_L/status/1699313472692199558
What led to the rumour
An X account posted that Divya Spandana, popularly known as Ramya, had died on 6 September morning due to a cardiac arrest. However, the post was deleted later. “Shocking news: Actor Divya Spandana passes away. Dies due to heart attack,” it read.
Check out the tweet:
https://twitter.com/vkholicc/status/1699314591044698325
A hoax
Soon, a journalist confirmed that Divya was alive and refuted rumours of her death. She tweeted, “Just spoke to @divyaspandana. She is in Geneva, and was sleeping peacefully till calls came in. Whoever the irresponsible person was, who tweeted this and the news organisations that put it out as a news flash, shame on you.”
https://twitter.com/dhanyarajendran/status/1699318361199346026
Another journalist, who shared a photograph with the actor-politician just a few hours ago, took to X and dismissed the rumours. She captioned her post, “It is so easy to spread wrong news about someone especially if they are as famous as @divyaspandana. The lady is well and looking forward to working on some projects. Whatever happened to the basic rules of #journalism! #India.”
Check out the post:
https://twitter.com/chitraSD/status/1699427050702954977
The news channels that broadcast ‘fake’ news about Divya’s passing immediately deleted the update from their social media pages. However, this is not the first time that false news about an actor’s death was broadcast by media outlets. Earlier, reports about actor Sarathbabu’s passing also dominated headlines.
Work Front
Work wise, Divya Spandana will next be seen in an upcoming Kannada film Uttarakaanda opposite Dhananjay. She is popular as Ramya, her stage name and through her characters in Kannada films like Mussanjemaatu and Arasu. Her Tamil films include Vaaranam Aayiram and Polladhavan.