While much of the world was celebrating the life of the late Joan Rivers last week, people in a parallel, notably stupider universe mourned the death of the very much alive Betty White. It was all thanks to an article about hair treatments from self-described satirists Empire News, titled "Actress Betty White, 92, Dyes Peacefully In Her Los Angeles Home."

However, the real joke wasn't the limp "dies"/"dyes" gag, but the inevitable outpouring of grief it elicited from social media users. By exploiting the helpless homophone, Empire News was able to have its death hoax-cake and eat it too, and by Monday the story had been shared over one million times.

Of course, back in the real world, Betty White is still alive and well. As her agent told The L.A. Times on Wednesday, "She is on the set shooting Hot in Cleveland right now."

Thankfully, not everyone was duped by the story, as even the orthographically-challenged had their doubts.

At the very least, Empire News deserves some recognition for finally writing an article that could reasonably be perceived as a joke. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for their other recent "satire" hits, "Meteorologists Predict Record-Shattering Snowfall Coming Soon" and "Congress Approves Bill That Will Offer Free Automobiles To Welfare Recipients."

[Image via Shutterstock]

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