WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Jason Statham's family has announced "sad news" about the action movie star.
OUR VERDICT
False. His family has made no such announcement.
AAP FACTCHECK - Celebrity death hoaxes are spreading rapidly across social media in what experts suspect is an attempt to generate engagement for online advertising.
Dozens of pages on Facebook are making false claims that celebrities including action movie star Jason Statham and TV personality Simon Cowell have died in accidents over recent weeks.
The posts have generated tens of millions of views combined, but experts warn the fake stories are most likely engagement bait.
One post shared by a page called Celebrity Cars falsely claims Statham's family released a public statement announcing "SAD NEWS", accompanied by a composite image of the actor next to a separate photo of a coffin and the words "rest in peace".
The post links through to a website laden with advertising that includes several fake quotes attributed to Statham's family.
One of the quotes reads: "With heavy hearts, we confirm the unfortunate news regarding Jason. We ask for privacy and respect during this difficult time."
However, the statement, which can't be found in any credible news reports, does not specifically claim Statham died.
The article also includes an image of Statham next to a coffin and the words "rest in peace", continuing: "As of now, there is no confirmed report on whether this news pertains to a personal tragedy, a serious health issue, or even the shocking possibility of Jason's passing."
There is no record of Statham's family making the statement attributed to them, nor has there been any significant announcement regarding his health, death or career.
The same post and article on a different website have been shared by other pages on Facebook, including one called Buzz Network.
Statham was pictured, alive and apparently well, alongside Albanian-born football star Granit Xhaka in an image shared to Xhaka's Instagram page and reported by the Albanian Post on July 8, 2025, the same day the Celebrity Cars post appeared.
Another death hoax that's been shared widely recently targets British celebrity Simon Cowell, claiming "SAD NEW" was confirmed about the producer "39 Minutes Ago In Chicago".
While the Facebook post doesn't specifically mention a death, Cowell's photo is juxtaposed next to a coffin in a composite image that also depicts a crushed, burnt out vehicle.
A reverse image search of the damaged car reveals the photo was taken in Texas in 2023 after a head-on collision, as reported by NBC News.
Cowell's personal Instagram account has been active in recent days, sharing clips from his TV show's account, America's Got Talent.
Andrea Carson, a digital communications expert at La Trobe University, said the false posts are being used to generate revenue by directing users to web pages hosting advertisements.
"It tends to be for eyeballs that these falsehoods are generated and what more likely way to do so than to focus on a made-up but shocking story about a celebrity," Professor Carson told AAP FactCheck.
"The best thing that people can do when they see one is to resist the temptation to click."
Agata Stepnik, a digital communications expert at the University of Sydney, said that while celebrity death hoaxes are as old as social media itself, artificial intelligence (AI) tools are increasingly making the false claims more convincing, which helps boost engagement.
"These specific examples seem to be examples of how generative AI tools like Dall-E and Midjourney can be used to generate convincing images to go with the hoax headline," Dr Stepnik told AAP FactCheck.
Late in 2024, Facebook owner Meta updated its content monetisation policies, which state that "providers posting content flagged as misinformation and false news may be ineligible or may lose their eligibility to monetise".
The posts, however, all attempt to entice users to click through to external websites that host ads and could be used for even more nefarious purposes, Dr Stepnik explained.
"Essentially, following the link usually takes the user to a phishing webpage, where they can then be set up to be scammed or defrauded," she said.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked similar engagement scams involving fake news about the royal family.
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