A strange online death hoax claiming legendary Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan has died has gone viral, leaving fans anxious about the actor’s wellbeing.
Social media posts featuring a black-and-white image of Chan alongside the dates “1954-2026” have been making rounds on the internet, wrongly implying that the 72-year-old actor has died.
However, there’s no credible news that suggests Chan has died. The actor, born as Fang Shilong, is alive and continues to make public appearances.
How did the Chan death hoax spread online?
The fake claims spread across social media platforms, with some posts having amassed millions of views.
One such post, which is widely circulated, has garnered over 8 million views within hours.
Such death hoaxes involving major international celebrities spread like a wild fire on social media, especially when posts feature realistic tribute images, without providing a credible source.
Chan made his last reportedly public appearance on July 7, during his visit to Pei Chun Public School in Singapore.
Singapore’s newspaper The Straits Times reported Chan’s visit to the school as part of an event organised by the Lim Family Foundation and that the actor had interacted with over 900 students.
Chan singing Olympic track, Hard to Say Goodbye, also appears in the videos posted on social media following the school visit.
So in this context, this documented public record of Chan contradicts the viral claims that the actor has passed away.
Chan, whose career spans over six decades, has starred in some of the classics of modern action cinema, which include Rush Hour, Police Story and Drunker Master.
2026-09-29 11:35:00
